Making the case for putting youth services on a sustainable footing

The political ground will shift in 2024 as we head into local, regional and national elections. At stake is the leadership of some local councils, newly elected mayors, police and crime commissioners, and a general election which will see a new cohort of members of parliament. A fresh mandate will be gained by government from a new parliament. Each campaign will highlight the differences between the parties and the priorities of the politicians standing for election. What is all too often missing from the heat of debate is the commitment we share to improve the lives of the communities we serve. While respecting our differences, it ignores the collective actions we take in parliament and the drive we have to invest across communities in local areas and regions.

Our constituencies are apart – in the East Midlands and on the south coast – however, the economic challenges for the country and everyday economy of families are apparent to all. The priorities for and needs of young people are consistent across the board, from mental health and to school attendance, fear of crime and violence, hopes for skills and employment.

Cross-party review

Any new administration does not start from scratch. Looking back over this parliament, 2019 saw the publication of the ground-breaking cross-party report on the role for and importance of youth work. This was the product of a year-long inquiry and evidence gathering by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on youth affairs.

It concluded with the first government-initiated debate on young people and youth work for over a decade, in the summer of 2019, garnering support and unanimity in parliament. How each party sought to deliver against this, as we moved into the December 2019 general election, varied in approach. However, the principle and direction of travel was set with a national youth guarantee and recognition of the value of youth work.

Post-pandemic and in a cost-of-living crisis, there are significant challenges for young people and new opportunities for the renewal of youth work. Looking back over the last two years we seek to build on those recommendations, to learn and move forward into the next parliament by the end of 2024.

Youth work reports

Our 2019 report followed a decade of austerity after the 2008 financial crash. That period saw youth services fragment – where 75 per cent had been delivered by local authorities this reduced to 25 per cent with the voluntary sector filling gaps; but with more than £1bn annual reduction in direct spending on that provision.

The report led to the renewal of youth work qualifications and the first steps towards increased investment, from a capital-led youth investment fund and bursaries for youth work training. Later underpinned by the National Youth Guarantee for all young people to have equitable access to regular (weekly) activities out of school, adventure and trips away from home, and increased volunteering opportunities in their local area.

By the summer of 2020, with the country in the first national lockdown of the pandemic, youth services were deemed an essential service and by 2021 – when the APPG reviewed progress on our recommendations – qualified youth workers gained essential key worker status. Young people were seen safely from digital support to the doorstep and into community spaces. However, in the economic downturn that followed, to meet critical need, local authorities’ spending was largely absorbed by looked-after children and young people in crisis.

Current landscape

As we enter 2024, the make-up of youth work is such that 80 per cent of youth services are now delivered by voluntary organisations and community groups, albeit a significant part commissioned or grant funded by local councils. Alongside the changed youth work landscape comes the increased needs of young people, many disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. There is a shared political narrative of young people needing “somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to” that has run through government policies since 2008. Yet our reports found a lack of consistency in funding, where and how services are provided, and an uneven spread of opportunities within communities as well as between local authority areas. The 2019 report put forward recommendations on what needed to happen. How much has been achieved, what is still left to be done, and is each recommendation still fit for purpose?

National leadership

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has retained the lead for youth work and out of school activities. Responsibilities are included within ministerial roles but not a dedicated minister for young people. Many of the legislative levers for children’s services sit within the Department for Education and a minister for children, and related departmental responsibilities fall into the Home Office, justice and health departments, as well as local government and communities at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The broader skills agenda and youth progression benefits from a ministerial post at the Department for Work and Pensions co-ordinating with the DCMS and DfE in particular.

This fragmentation of policy and responsibilities masks a myriad of initiatives, research and funding, all too often disconnected or complex. Programme-led and short-term funding, however welcome that is in such challenging economic times, leads to youth work jobs patched together without long-term prospects and short-lived projects without consistent support for young people. There is a renewed focus on place-based approaches, including community hubs. However, this is in danger of reinforcing silos.

To be effective, this requires a clear narrative of what we want for, and expect of, young people as a nation, readily understood by politicians, providers, communities and young people alike. Shared outcomes will help read across government, bridging the silos with a dedicated minister and cross-departmental co-ordinating unit.

Devolved powers

There are severe constraints to public spending in this and the next parliament. Within any budget, youth work is an unstable part of services which run across education and social care and justice. As a result, great disparity of funding exists between areas. Significantly, there is a strong correlation between access to youth provision and poverty, with low-income households less likely to take part.

The long-awaited statutory guidance was published in 2023, to help local authorities determine and plan for a “sufficient” level of local provision of youth work with young people in their area. This can be delivered, commissioned, funded or otherwise supported by the local council.

However, without dedicated funding it is hard for a council to secure that provision. With shared outcomes and a joined-up approach nationally, we have seen the potential of regional co-ordination of provision by mayors and violence reduction units. Much more can be achieved in the co-ordination of community hubs and services in education, health, employment and housing, sports and culture.

This calls for devolved powers and funding, delivered locally. Critically, young people have the right to be involved in community development, co-design of services and facilities, and funding decisions; and to ensure equitable access and the quality of youth provision. This will help open-up community spaces, repair and repurpose small scale capital projects where young people are, and use of community assets from schools to parks and leisure to housing associations, for example. And when young people have a sense of belonging, communities are stronger, benefiting all ages.

Invest to prosper

We cannot ignore the difficult economic circumstances. However, national programmes and local areas competing for funding pots is no way to fund services. To meet the varied needs of different ages and stages of life is best achieved locally where funding can be used wisely by people who can see the whole picture and breadth of services across a place, seen through the lens of young people’s experiences rather than of a particular government department.

We do not underestimate the challenges to government. An ageing population soaks up the capacity and resources of much of health and public services. While education investment has largely been sustained, some 85 per cent of a young person’s waking hours are spent outside of the school day. Where we are to invest, fundamentally, is in the quality of the positive relationship between the young person and trusted adult that makes the biggest difference to life choices and chances: a trained youth worker or skilled volunteer, often near to peer in age, who young people turn to.

Engage, involve and empower

Not valuing young people in the decisions we take, over the long term, fails us all as a society. National programmes can only scratch the surface. How we engage, involve and empower young people means making decisions viewed through the lens of their young lives. This is not to pitch one generation against another but presents an opportunity to restore civic pride and shape the society we want. As we rise to the national challenge, a solution is to allow councils or combined authorities to present a community-based youth offer, held accountable by residents including young people in line with their local needs and priorities, with voluntary and community organisations alongside a set of local public services.

We look back to move forward with a call on government in the next parliament to secure youth work delivered by communities locally. To drive this policy forward requires greater accountability with a dedicated ministerial post for young people in government, and greater devolved responsibilities to regions and localities, to meet the needs and create opportunities with young people across our communities.

Have your say on the future of youth work

As a follow up to the 2019 review of youth work by the all-party parliamentary group for youth affairs, Ben Bradley and Lloyd Russell-Moyle want to carry out a rapid review to find out how youth provision has changed since the last general election. A key part of this is to gather youth workers’ views on three key questions:

• We know youth work is fragmented in the type of provision, levels of funding, across the regions and between local areas. What funding is needed to secure universal youth services to deliver a local youth offer?
  
  

• Starting from where we are now, with youth work delivered predominantly by the voluntary sector, what are the delivery models for effective work with wider children’s services?
  
  

• As part of a children’s workforce and range of services, where and how are youth workers best employed to address the key issues and challenges faced by young people?

Please send your views, along with any supporting evidence, to cypnow@markallengroup.com