UK Youth and Ambition finally tie the knot after decades of courtship

Two of the longest-established youth sector representative bodies have merged.

The joining up of UK Youth and Ambition - originally known as the National Organisation of Girls Clubs and the National Association of Boys' Clubs respectively - ends decades of speculation. It comes just two years after Ambition, which was known as Clubs for Young People until 2012, merged with the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Services (Chyps), the organisation for local authority youth service leaders.

Ambition also merged with the now defunct National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) last year. A number of NCVYS programmes were also taken on by UK Youth, which only last year held talks with the National Youth Agency over sharing backroom functions.

The rationalisation of youth organisations in recent years comes against a backdrop of ongoing reductions in spending on youth services by local authorities.

Figures published in September by the Department for Education outlining the predicted spending of individual councils across England for 2017/18 reveal local authorities are set to spend £415.8m on youth services, compared with £489.5m in 2016/17, a fall of 15 per cent in a single year. Over the past five years, spending has shrunk nearly 50 per cent.

It is clear from the annual accounts of both charities that, unsurprisingly, each have had to adjust to this tougher financial climate.

UK Youth's annual report for 2015/16 reveals that at the start of that financial year, it faced "a number of challenges that threatened to impact on the sustainability of the charity". These were addressed through a restructure - with a new management team put in place.

The report states that the team, led by chief executive Anna Smee, who took up post in December 2014, "regenerated our income pipeline, improved operational efficiency, and developed new initiatives", that put it in a "stable position".

Numbers of staff were reduced by 31 over the period, trimming £850,000 from the wage bill. In 2015/16 income fell from £8.6m to £5.3m, but the charity recorded a surplus of £84,000 on the back of two years of deficits (see box). However, the report does state that the trustees "remain focused" on the need to increase reserves through continued cost control and attracting new sources of income.

UK Youth's accounts for 2016/17 are yet to be published.

Meanwhile, Ambition's accounts show that with total income in 2015/16 of £1.33m and total expenditure of £1.19m, it had an overall operating surplus of £144,190. However, the report points out that this figure includes £420,000 of "legacy income", without which it would have made a loss of £290,515. In 2014/15 the charity made a loss of £126,110.

The two charities say the merger will strengthen the voice and quality of the youth work just sector. The organisations will continue to exist as separate legal entities but Ambition, which has just six members of staff, is now a subsidiary of UK Youth, which has 90 members of staff (see key facts box).

For the next year, the two organisations will continue with separate offers to the youth organisations that form their membership, while a consultation takes place to inform the introduction of a "unified membership offer" from April 2018. There will be no enforced changes to staffing before then.

Smee says the merger strengthens the finances of the two organisations: "UK Youth is already in a cash-rich position and Ambition brings buildings so it will lead to a good combined balance sheet."

Emma Revie, chief executive of Ambition, adds: "I'm confident we have the potential to be greater together than the sum of our parts and I'm excited to see what we can achieve."

The sector has generally reacted positively to the move (see expert panel). Young Gloucestershire chief executive Tracy Clarke says a single organisation will have "clearer strategic direction and provide better value for money".

"I am not alone in the belief that the way to realise the best future in our sector is through more collaboration of this kind," adds Clarke.

Sports minister Tracey Crouch, who holds the youth work brief in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, also says the merger will "strengthen" the organisations.

However, campaign group In Defence of Youth Work is sceptical. A statement on its website said: "It will strengthen a particular voice, centralised and still wedded to a neoliberal ideology of self-improved young people and self-improved workers. A plurality of voices would be much healthier."

Key financial and organisational facts about UK Youth and Ambition

Ambition

• Established in 1925 as the National Association of Boys' Clubs, going on to become the National Association of Clubs for Young People in 2005, and Ambition in 2012
  
  
• Supports more than 50 organisations that run a network of 3,500 youth clubs, community projects, local authorities and housing associations
  
  
• Its six paid staff are based at the London headquarters and offices across the UK

Income 2015/16: £1.33m

Expenditure 2015/16: £1.19m

Surplus/(deficit): £144,190

Income 2014/15: £2.06m

Expenditure 2014/15: £2.18m

Surplus/(deficit): (£126,110)

UK Youth

• UK Youth was founded in 1911 as the National Organisation of Girls Clubs. Following a number of name changes, it became UK Youth in 2001
  
  
• Supports 4,890 youth organisations within its network, used by a combined 830,000 young people across the United Kingdom, to improve services
  
  
• It has 90 members of staff based at its London office
  
  

Income 2015/16: £5.34m

Expenditure 2015/16: £5.25m

Surplus/(deficit): £84,000

Income 2014/15: £8.6m

Expenditure 2014/15: £8.8m

Surplus/(deficit): (£202,000)

Youth sector experts assess the implications of the merger

Paul Oginsky, chief executive of Personal Development Point, and former government youth policy adviser:

This has been the longest-running courtship of all time. As an outsider with no affiliation or vested interest it seems to me that if there was a desire to merge it would have happened by now. It only comes up when one or both of the organisations hits a financially difficult point and then it goes away when they find a way to survive alone.

In real terms there is no such thing as a merger, only takeovers. Chyps and NCVYS did not merge with Ambition, Fairbridge did not merge with The Prince's Trust and Rathbone did not merge with Newcastle College. Whatever the rhetoric, the stronger organisation consumes the weaker.

A merger would require a resulting new brand without the hard-earned gravitas or reputation of a long-standing brand. At the most politically uncertain time the UK has ever faced this new brand would be very vulnerable. In order to gain the benefits, avoid the pitfalls and be a strong force for good within the youth sector the most robust organisation needs to take over the weaker, cutting away any dead wood and making the most of any assets. That would be a bold decision and statement.

Too much of the youth sector has looked like Game of Thronesat times, so with emotions set to one side it would be the best thing and right thing to do.

John Bateman, former chief executive UK Youth:

The merger has the potential to strengthen both charities' financial position and enable them to speak for a much larger constituency. It will also be a win for policymakers and funders who should recognise and invest in the creation of a strengthened national infrastructure that facilitates and supports provision of a platform from which young people can articulate their needs and participate in creating solutions.

The merger will bring other gains in terms of enhanced lobbying capability, specifically amplifying the voices of young people and bringing greater recognition for the work of committed youth workers and volunteers.

Collaborative working will also have greater impact with ministers and civil servants who have at times been confused about the difference between youth organisations.

A number of major trust and foundation funders will also feel more confident about supporting a single, well established charity with strong leadership and governance, robust financial credentials and a large membership.

Austerity has provided little cheer for youth services but the recent election demonstrated that young people have the appetite for greater engagement with services that affect their lives. Bold and imaginative responses from youth organisations who wish to support young people to participate fully in shaping the world they will inherit are to be welcomed and supported.

James Cathcart, youth policy consultant:

This makes practical sense for these two organisations, especially in the context of an ongoing squeeze to income for the voluntary youth sector. It suggests a proactive approach to the current challenging climate for charities, maximising the opportunities that this particular model of merger represents, where each is committed to maintaining their distinct identities, with one retaining a subsidiary status.

Their commitment to consult their respective memberships about future priorities for 2018 will be an opportunity to take stock of how members see UK Youth and Ambition's future role in providing services, channelling funding, quality assurance and lobbying.

As someone who has been responsible for managing a similar merger; charged with the task of maintaining two distinct brands under a co-ordinating structure, I'm well aware that it can reassure continuity of what is most valued by the memberships, existing supporters, and the sector as a whole. It also enables the retention and sharing of institutional memory.

However, it is the latest in a series of mergers, takeovers and closures in the public and voluntary sector youth services in recent years.

This development must empower the sector to be more demanding for a public policy dialogue with government. One that all stakeholders can contribute to and results in more partnership working and a fairer share of resources.