Youth services 'in a time warp' says Loughton
Andy Hillier
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
England's youth services required radical reform even before the latest round of public sector cuts, children's minister Tim Loughton told the education select committee.
Speaking at the final sitting of the inquiry into services for young people, the minister said: "Youth services in this country are one of the most high-profile unreformed services we have. A lot of other areas of children’s services have undergone a lot of change – much for the better. But youth services have been left in a time warp."
Loughton told the committee that many existing youth services had been shaped by the Albemarle Report published more than 50 years ago and that too many youth services were a "monopoly" for local authorities. He added that the fact they were so reliant on central and local authority funding meant that they were economically "unsustainable".
The minister also revealed that he wants to give young people a greater role in assessing the quality of youth services. "I don’t won’t a complicated inspection structure," he said. "There needs to be greater accountability by young people themselves. What I want in every authority is a very clearly identifiable and accessible youth engagement body that is able to hold the local authority and other agencies to scrutiny."
A range of existing youth engagement bodies such as the British Youth Council, Young Mayors or the UK Youth Parliament could potentially play a pivotal role in holding services to account, he added. He also promised that a further £350,000 will be made available this year and £500,000 next year to support youth democratic engagement. But he ruled out pushing for the voting age to be lowered to 16, saying that he wasn’t convinced it was priority.
Loughton also dismissed the select committee’s accusation that the government does not care about young people because of cuts to funding and services. "There’s a perception that the amount of public funding is automatically linked to the level of commitment you have to a certain subject," he said. "I think that’s absolute nonsense."
He added that plans to create a Big Society Bank and encourage businesses to invest in youth projects could ultimately lead to "substantially more" investment in the youth sector in the long term.
Terry Ryall, chief executive of V, expressed her disappointment at the loss of funding for youth volunteering projects. She said that that the government’s decision to pull funding for the Vschools programme, which led to the loss of 93 jobs last year just four months after the programme launched, was a mistake. "It is a lost opportunity to embed a culture of giving and service at a younger age than 16," she said.
She added that the money allocated to the National Citizen Service could have been better spent on existing youth sector organisations, despite V running one of the pilot programmes. "There are a lot of organisations out there that are engaging young people on a face-to face level," she said. "I would have looked to see how all of that could have been brought together under some sort of national programme."
The education select committee is due to report its findings later this summer.
Loughton told the committee that many existing youth services had been shaped by the Albemarle Report published more than 50 years ago and that too many youth services were a "monopoly" for local authorities. He added that the fact they were so reliant on central and local authority funding meant that they were economically "unsustainable".
The minister also revealed that he wants to give young people a greater role in assessing the quality of youth services. "I don’t won’t a complicated inspection structure," he said. "There needs to be greater accountability by young people themselves. What I want in every authority is a very clearly identifiable and accessible youth engagement body that is able to hold the local authority and other agencies to scrutiny."
A range of existing youth engagement bodies such as the British Youth Council, Young Mayors or the UK Youth Parliament could potentially play a pivotal role in holding services to account, he added. He also promised that a further £350,000 will be made available this year and £500,000 next year to support youth democratic engagement. But he ruled out pushing for the voting age to be lowered to 16, saying that he wasn’t convinced it was priority.
Loughton also dismissed the select committee’s accusation that the government does not care about young people because of cuts to funding and services. "There’s a perception that the amount of public funding is automatically linked to the level of commitment you have to a certain subject," he said. "I think that’s absolute nonsense."
He added that plans to create a Big Society Bank and encourage businesses to invest in youth projects could ultimately lead to "substantially more" investment in the youth sector in the long term.
Terry Ryall, chief executive of V, expressed her disappointment at the loss of funding for youth volunteering projects. She said that that the government’s decision to pull funding for the Vschools programme, which led to the loss of 93 jobs last year just four months after the programme launched, was a mistake. "It is a lost opportunity to embed a culture of giving and service at a younger age than 16," she said.
She added that the money allocated to the National Citizen Service could have been better spent on existing youth sector organisations, despite V running one of the pilot programmes. "There are a lot of organisations out there that are engaging young people on a face-to face level," she said. "I would have looked to see how all of that could have been brought together under some sort of national programme."
The education select committee is due to report its findings later this summer.
