Steve Higginbotham, president of the ICG, warned that careers services for young people in England "will have finally been laid to rest" by September 2012. This is because the government’s proposed all-age careers service will consist largely of a website and telephone helpline, and schools will be expected to fund careers services for young people out of their central budgets from September next year.
"Now we know why government has stood on the sidelines as Connexions services have been systematically dismantled and advisers have joined their former clients on the dole queue – because in future there will no longer be a need for many careers advisers," he warned.
"The government makes much play of its support for the professionalisation of the career guidance sector and has declared its intention to require service providers to hold recognised quality standards.
"All this is of little comfort when set alongside the dramatic downsizing of the career profession workforce over the next couple of years."
Higginbotham argued that in future "hundreds of thousands" of young people will never have access to impartial career guidance, but will instead have to rely on a national telephone helpline or website.
"From September 2012, no young person in England will have access to independent face-to-face career guidance services unless their school is prepared to pay for it," he explained. "Schools will have no additional funds beyond their dedicated school grant to buy in careers guidance professionals."
He added that proposals to encourage a "market" of careers guidance services would lead to fragmentation of provision across the country.
"The government’s desire for a market to develop in career guidance services will undoubtedly result in some innovative and efficient provision, pitting the government-funded National Careers Service against a range of commercial and council-based providers," he said.
"However, this market is unlikely to be large, given that resources available for schools and individuals to purchase careers services will be limited. This approach will also lead to a fragmentation of services with no local coherence.
"For employers, further and higher education and training organisations, it is going to be much more difficult to get their information and opportunities across to young people, teachers and parents without a local career service to liaise with."
