Councils to keep most youth services in-house
Andy Hillier
Friday, August 19, 2011
Local authorities plan to continue to deliver the vast majority of their services for young people in-house while only one in three is considering alternative funding models, despite the government's desire for reform, a CYP Now investigation has found.
Data obtained through freedom of information requests from 90 out of 152 local authorities in England reveals that councils on average only currently commission out 27 per cent of their combined information, advice and guidance, targeted youth support, youth participation and open access and detached youth work to external providers, with the remaining 73 per cent delivered in-house.
By 2012/13, local authorities anticipate that the percentage of services commissioned out will increase marginally to around 32 per cent, with 68 per cent delivered in-house.
Information, advice and guidance is the service most likely to be commissioned out, with almost half of these services handed over to external providers. By contrast, only 20 per cent of local authority targeted youth support programmes and 25 per cent of open access and detached youth work programmes are currently handed over to external providers. However, local authorities do anticipate that 37 per cent of their open access and detached youth work will be provided externally in 2012/13, while targeted programmes will remain largely static, nudging up next year to only 21 per cent.
The findings come despite repeated calls from the government for local authorities to commission out more services as part of its big society drive. Earlier this month, an Ofsted report into the commissioning of services for young people also criticised local authorities for failing to make more use of the voluntary and community sector.
Faiza Chaudary, deputy chief executive at the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS), said: "The findings indicate that the majority of local authorities could go further in commissioning services in a way that strengthens partnership working at a local level.
"As recognised by Ofsted recently, commissioning could be used more creatively by local authorities delivering services to young people."
But Sue Payne, chair of the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Services, which brings together council youth chiefs, said CYP Now's study highlighted that councils are "increasing the number of services they are commissioning", adding that "you can't just create good delivery systems overnight". She said that while external providers had a strong track record in delivering information, advice and guidance, this was not the case in areas such as targeted youth support.
When questioned about alternative funding models, 34 per cent of local authorities say they are considering social enterprises, 20 per cent are looking into youth mutuals and 15 per cent say they are currently considering outsourcing their entire youth service to another provider. Overall, only 37 per cent are considering any alternative models of funding.
Nevertheless, Payne said the study showed encouraging signs that authorities are seeking new funding avenues. "There are quite a lot of moves towards social enterprises and youth mutuals," she said, adding that only a year ago very few youth services would have considered these options.
The study also highlights that council support for youth participation schemes remains strong despite recent government cuts. Ninety per cent fund youth councils or forums and 78 per cent plan to retain these in future. The UK Youth Parliament programme was run in 83 per cent of local authorities.
But James Cathcart, chief executive of the British Youth Council, cautioned that focus must be put on the actual quality of participation opportunities. "Tokenism is always a worry," he said. "One indicator that tests this is the proportion of local authorities that empower young representatives through budget control and influence."
Services for young people have also been hit hard by cuts, the study reveals. On average, almost 20 per cent has been wiped from youth budgets between 2010/11 and 2011/12. But Payne suspects that the figure is far higher in many of the local authorities that hadn't answered the freedom of information request: "We're hearing that 100 per cent of budgets have gone in some areas."