Council careers services hit by funding and staff cuts

The Derby University study, carried out for public services union Unison, found that between 2009/10 and 2012/13 the average local authority budget for careers and related services fell from £4.4m to £2.9m.

Extrapolated across the country, the figures suggest annual council spending on careers support has fallen by £228m, largely driven by cuts to local authority budgets.

Combined results from three surveys carried out for the study – one completed by 35 directors of children’s services, one of Unison members in schools and another of Unison members working in local authorities – found that 93 per cent reported a drop in their careers services budget.

The Derby University report says most of the cuts have occurred in support offered to schools for delivering universal careers services, following the government-initiated transfer of responsibility for this to secondary schools in 2012. The transfer saw many councils close Connexions services and absorb specialist universal careers advice into existing youth support arrangements.

Most local authorities have maintained support for targeted support for young people at risk, such as those excluded from school, in care or having a learning difficulty, the researchers found. However, evidence emerged that the range of services and definition of vulnerability has narrowed, resulting in the reduction of availability of services.

Despite the depth of the cuts, the study found that some councils were providing support to schools above and beyond the minimum level expected, although it predicted this would stop as a result of further anticipated cuts to local government funding.

Unsurprisingly, the cut in council spending on careers services has seen a near-halving of staff working in careers and Connexions services. In 2009/10 the average number of careers professionals employed by councils was 70, compared to 36 in 2012/13.

The cuts to careers funding, services and workforce has weakened the careers profession substantially, according to the report.

It states: “Taken together, such changes reduce the space for careers professionalism to be enacted and the level of professional capacity within each authority for both universal and targeted services.”

Careers professionals who responded to the study reported declining morale and working conditions along with downward pressures on the salaries of school careers workers.

Last September, an Ofsted report branded school careers support as inadequate, a finding mirrored by the Derby study, which reported respondents as saying many young people were making education and employment decisions without adequate support leading to “unwise” choices.

The study, to be published later this week, received data about careers spending and services in 86 English local authorities.