Youth workers, sector leaders and young people came together last week for a debate organised by CYP Now, as part of the For Youth’s Sake campaign. The event, sponsored by outdoor education provider PGL, started with a series of presentations from young people about the value of the services they use and was followed by a Question Time-style debate between politicians, youth sector leaders and a young person.
Should the state deliver open-access youth work?
Question posed by Peter Roberts, Buckinghamshire Youth Services
Budget cuts mean many services for young people will have to narrow their focus to help those who need support the most. Stuart Jackson argued this was necessary in financially difficult times. "We have to pay down a massive debt, so we need to target where the need is greatest," said Jackson.
Stella Creasy replied by challenging her All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) counterpart. "If you’re putting 700,000 people on the dole, a lot of them will be young people," she said. "That’s money you could be spending on youth services." She added that she would like to see a Sure Start model rolled out for eight- to 16-year-olds to ensure they had access to universal services.
Terry Ryall said a universal service was needed, because targeted approaches had negative associations.
What advice would you give organisations supporting young volunteers who are left without funding?
Question posed by Nathan Cadogen, London Borough of Enfield
Fiona Blacke, Linda Jack and Ryall all agreed young people should use their energy to take action. "This is a time for organisations to be collaborating, sharing services and costs and using the talent of the young to lead," said Ryall. Jack said it may be hard for local authority services to involve young people in lobbying, but urged it to happen. "We’ve lost that connection with collective action," she said. She also called on the youth
sector to improve its evidence base.
What is the future of integrated youth services?
Question posed by Louisa Thompson, Open University researcher
Jackson began his answer by defending government cuts, saying public expenditure is simply returning to 2007/08 levels. "It wasn’t a plague of locusts then, let’s get some perspective," he said. According to Jackson, some local authorities are bad at using local organisations when integrated services depend on local needs.
But Blacke argued there was a consensus between the statutory and charity sectors about what represents good services. "There’s a body of expertise called youth work which understands how to do that well," she said. "There isn’t a hierarchy saying third sector does it well and local authorities do it badly." Jack suggested government should lead on values rather than structures. "There needs to be more imagination about delivering local services," she said. "But if we really want things to change, we need to have a more holistic approach."
Young people often don’t feel part of the community – how can they play a role in the big society?
Question posed by Helen Hibbert, Partnership for Young London
Creasy used this as an opportunity to launch an attack on coalition policies. "Our ability to involve young people in delivering and shaping services is going to be much harder," she said, addressing Jackson. "The kind of cuts you’re talking about are going to decimate organisations." But Jackson responded by saying the issue wasn’t just financial, but also about family breakdown and educational attainment.
Ryall suggested that young people’s communities were no longer geographical. "Young people have huge online communities," she said. "They are still active there." Josh Harsant said one of the barriers was negative stereotyping in the media, a sentiment echoed by Blacke. "I’m ashamed to live in a country that doesn’t like its young people or see them as its future," she said.
How can we address young people’s complex needs in the current climate?
Question posed by Steve Lee, policy development officer, Youth Access
Jack argued the key to meeting young people’s needs was "safe, meaningful relationships". "The most important influence is the family," she said. But Jackson said the family was often to blame for cycles of deprivation. He recalls a teacher saying some parents can’t wait to drop their children at school so they could "go home to watch television and drink Special Brew". Harsant argued that good information, advice and guidance is vital. "It’s about an approach that covers all aspects of someone’s life," he said, adding that solving one problem can help others, such as tackling unemployment to alleviate debt.
Should youth services be protected and publicised to the public?
Question posed by David Bigglestone, London Borough of Newham
Harsant answered a simple "yes", while Jack called for the establishment of a professional body that recognised youth work. She said: "Big society needs to recognise the crucial role youth services can play. People are going to die from some of these funding choices," a point the audience strongly agreed with. Creasy engaged the crowd by ending the debate with a pledge: "I’m going to fight Stewart’s government as hard as I can. If you’re going to take money away from children rather than bankers, there’s a problem."
The For Youth’s Sake campaign is calling for the government to set out its vision for young people, for employers to invest in the youth workforce and for young people to be involved in decisions about the services they use. To sign the pledge, visit www.foryouthssake.co.uk.
WHY SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE MATTER TO US
Six young people from a variety of programmes spoke about the benefits of youth schemes
Youth Work: Dara Farrell, 17, Save Our Services
How does a young person rise from hanging around a deprived council estate to receiving meeting requests from the Leader of the Opposition? Dara Farrell’s answer is youth work. He spoke about how youth work helped him and why young people should back his national Save Our Services campaign.
"Youth worker staff are reluctant to stand up and bite the hand that feeds them," he said. "That’s why it’s important young people play a part in defending this work." He argued that although it is too late to stop central government cuts, there is still time to influence local authorities. He also spoke against the National Citizen Service (NCS). "I struggle to understand how a five-week programme can replace a process, which in my case, is still going on five years later," he said. "This generation is apparently already lost. Are we sure we want to remove the institutions that will help find us?"
Connexions: Josh Harsant, 17, board director, Connexions Thames Valley
Information, advice and guidance services is one area the government can’t afford to cut, according to Josh Harsant. "The number of those not in education, employment or training (Neet) will rise, resulting in more unemployed young people," he said. "If support services are also cut, there is a risk of alcohol and drug abuse, and youth crime." Josh accused the government of unfairly generalising about the effectiveness of Connexions services. He said many provided vital work at a time when young people need support. "There are nearly one million unemployed young people aged 16 to 25," he said. "How is cutting vital support services going to help that situation?"
Participation: Jack Rowley, 24, vice chair for campaigns and communications, British Youth Council (BYC)
Jack captured the tone of the event by stating that young people themselves need to tackle current challenges. "Only through youth participation and youth empowerment will we find the answers to the difficult questions facing young people and society as a whole," he said.
He argued that youth participation led to better services, saved money, and challenged stereotypes. Speaking a week before he and other young people will speak to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Jack said now was a time for unity. "This is the first example where [BYC] have reached beyond our membership to invite other youth leaders," he said. The group will call for dialogue to build youth policies based on young people’s views.
Volunteering: Cameron Deighton, 21, Play for Free volunteer, V
To explain the benefits of volunteering, Cameron described how he runs his United Nations Peace Cup football events, while working as a semi-professional footballer and model. "I started volunteering when I got laid off," he said. "The London Coaching Foundation asked me to do football coaching." Cameron targeted young people in underprivileged areas and raised funds to launch the tournament, which attracted more than 250 children in one week. "It was a personal success because I ran it all myself," he said. He applied for further funding from VCashpoint, . "I’ve learned a lot," he said. "I’ll always do these projects."
National Citizen Service: Josephine Agyeman, 17, and Mohamad Wesal Altamash, 17, alumni, The Challenge
Despite other speakers’ criticism of the National Citizen Service, Josephine and Mohamad spoke enthusiastically about The Challenge, a forerunner to the government’s flagship youth programme. "Whether it was connecting with different people or assisting the transition to adulthood, the project achieved its aims," said Mohamad. "I became more aware of older people’s needs," said Josephine, who volunteered at a homeless shelter during the three-month programme.
The pair took part in camping trips, art projects and created BBC documentaries. "It encouraged future ambition," said Josephine. The programme inspired Mohamad to retrain. When asked if they would have preferred a longer project, Mohamad said yes, but he had still learned valuable skills.
