The latest local authority section 251 returns published by the Department for Education at the end of last month makes for difficult reading for anyone working or delivering youth services.
The data shows councils plan to spend 14.6 per cent less on services for young people in 2016/17 than the previous year. The £424m spend is around half of what was invested by councils in 2010/11, the result of deep cuts to local authority budgets from central government.
With government funding continuing to decline, authorities have been forced to rethink youth provision, such as targeting interventions on those most in need, commissioning more projects from the voluntary sector and "spinning out" youth services from council control altogether.
The changes have resulted in closed projects, reduced provision and job losses for youth work professionals. But it has also seen new and innovative approaches emerge for how youth workers deliver support for young people.
CYP Now's Special Report on youth work and youth services outlines government policies that are influencing the sector, what latest evidence has found about trends in support for young people, and profiles five projects delivering innovative practice in the youth work field.
Youth Work and Youth Services: Policy context
Youth Work and Youth Services: Research evidence
Practice examples:
- Youth Moves - a Bristol-based charity that supports eight- to 19-year-olds to overcome challenges on their journey to adulthood
- Young Lambeth Co-operative - a "youth mutual" established by Lambeth Council that operates independently to deliver youth services across the London borough
- "Pod" youth workers - how Windsor and Maidenhead Council has placed youth workers in social work teams to help improve support for vulnerable children
- Youth Neet prevention - how youth workers in Portsmouth are helping struggling pupils transition from school to a training, work or college placement
- Yes service - a youth work-led service for young people with emotional and mental health problems in West Sussex
