Members were advised that this item would allow them to
undertake pre-decision scrutiny on Achieving a Sustainable Youth
Work Offer for Cardiff, which would be considered by Cabinet on 23
November 2023.
The
Chair welcomed Councillor Peter Bradbury (Cabinet Member for
Tackling Poverty, Equality & Public Health), Melanie Godfrey
(Director of Education and Lifelong Learning), Susanne Scarlett
(Partnerships & Performance Manager, Education & Lifelong
Learning); and James Healan (Youth
Service Manager, Education & Lifelong Learning).
Councillor Bradbury was invited to make a statement. He drew
Members’ attention to paragraphs 31-44 of the report which
contained information on the outline proposals for change; the
vision and operating model, details on what each of the locality
teams would offer and the key principles underpinning the proposed
operating model.
Members were appreciative of the considerable amount of work
carried out prior to them receiving the report and heard how it was
the accumulation of an independent review and appraisal by
Education Department and work with stakeholders, communities,
members of the Authority, young people and the workforce of the
youth services.
Members were informed the intention was to strengthen the
Cardiff youth service offer and to achieve a sustainable,
impactful, high quality Youth Work Offer in the city, with strong
locality teams at the core, to respond to the unique needs of the
individual communities that they served.
The
locality teams would be sited in the areas of highest deprivation,
building on the existing Cardiff Youth Service offer and would work
closely with wider service for young people in their
areas.
It
was highlighted that the focus was on the service becoming more
resilient, flexible and placed on a more agile footing. The move to a locality model, service improvement
and change with a clear focus on community would enable the service
to more closely align with its communities and schools which was
much needed in terms of the impact of COVID around attendance, work
with the most vulnerable children and those at risk of
disengagement. There had also been the introduction of a better
governance and accountability framework and strengthened
leadership. An emphasis had been given to the development of the
workforce, ensuring staff were valued and had the opportunity to
progress. The goal was also to be more
ambitious with the curriculum and how it related to the curriculum
for Wales.
Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the
discussion is summarised as follows:
- Members
asked what steps were being taken to ensure
there were sufficient youth workers in Cardiff. Officers responded that a considerable amount of
time had been spent over the last year understanding the demands
and needs of individual communities and also the other services
that existed including the schools that operated in those
communities. There was more work to be
done, however, in scoping the exact operating model to meet the
needs of individual communities.
- Members
enquired as to what measures were being taken to ensure youth
workers received the support and development opportunities they
required to carry out their role effectively. Officers responded
that youth workers were given the opportunity to progress and
develop and attain the qualifications and accreditation required
for the level of their role.
Relationships had also been established with educational
establishments and supporting fieldwork placements with Cardiff
Metropolitan University. In terms of
preparing the future workforce there was also a range of trainee
and apprenticeship opportunities. In
addition, a Youth Service Workforce Development Officer post had
been advertised.
- Members
asked if there was an opportunity for youth workers to train
through the medium of Welsh and to obtain their qualifications in
Welsh. Officers responded that this opportunity was available for
any officer in Cardiff. Members supported and
approved the move towards accredited and professional development
opportunities across the workforce and parity of these
opportunities available through the Welsh medium.
- Members asked
for clarification on the role of Youth Action Groups. Officers responded that the Youth Action Groups
would be working with qualified youth workers to see what, if
anything, could be done to provide support to the community which
included providing support to youth workers. The Youth Action Group ensured there was a level
of scrutiny and youth workers were equipped with the tools to
deliver good outcomes in communities. The inclusion of Youth Action Groups and
young people themselves in developing this service was welcomed by
Members.
- Members
asked about the lead in time for when the work began, if it could
have been shortened, whether it could have been delivered more
efficiently in a shorter time and also if there was anything in
last year’s review that got anything wrong. In response it was felt that the timescale was
reasonable and that the independent reviewer had carried out the
review in a thorough manner. This was
seen as the start of a process that would radically change how
youth work was viewed in the city. It was also believed that the
report was fair, there had already been operational changes put in
place and the next stage would result in valuable changes in the
community.
- Members
referred to the Locality model and asked whether that meant the
Council was concentrating more on breadth or depth. Officers responded that the Locality model would
cover and add depth and breadth where resources
allowed. Members were directed to
paragraph 42 of the report which highlighted the changes in the
existing model of provision in terms of breadth and
depth. These included street-based
youth work, emotional health and well-being, inclusion, active
involvement and post 16.
- Members
discussed the review highlighting the fact that over 50% of the
funding was external and whether the aim was to maintain and build
those partnerships or access more Council funding. Officers
responded that the goal was for a sustainable youth work offer and
this could not be reliant on one source of funding. There was a
responsibility placed on Cardiff Youth Service to ensure the
flexibility of the service was extended. The service had its own revenue grant and also
operating in communities had access to third sector provision as
well as external funding. Part of the
model included optimising resources by developing robust
partnerships.
- Members
asked if there was a dedicated officer responsible for seeking out
partnerships. The Partnership
& Performance Manager, Education & Lifelong Learning
responded that it was part of their role to source partnerships. In
addition, within a local youth service context, the expectation was
that each senior youth officer was charged with forming
partnerships and youth action groups.
Members noted that there was a commitment to ensure that all of the
senior youth service officers in the Council were equipped with the
right skills and optimum level of partnership working to achieve
the same level
- Councillors
referred to a recent article in the Observer newspaper, the second
annual Youth Endowment Fund report, analysing young people’s
experience of violence which referred to shocking and unacceptable
levels of experiences of youth violence in England and Wales. It
was agreed that investing in youth services was investing to
save. Members noted that the report
referred to short term action over the course of the next year or
so relating to the establishment of Locality Teams and referred to
working on a medium-term approach with adolescents and how it would
all come together. Officers were asked
whether there were decisions that needed to be made over the
shorter term that would have implications over the longer term and
the impacts on decision making.
- Officers
responded that in terms of the short-term action plan it had been
agreed that there was a need to ensure that youth work was
strengthened and placed on a resilient and firm footing and
deployed in the areas with most impact. It was a case of looking at
the budget and the resources available to the youth service, the
unique selling point of youth work and aligning it with the
national strategy around youth work and making the best use of
resources. Some of the decisions taken had responded to issues
around violence and safeguarding and work had taken place with the
Home Office, Neighbourhood Policing,
the Safer Communities Partnership and Youth Justice making sure
services were being corralled where they were needed
most. Officers noted that the short
term was within the control of the youth service as it was youth
work and the model needed to be put in place so that it was strong
and resilient prior to looking at the broader strategy for youth
work.
- Members
noted that the longer strategy for youth work included community
focussed schools, safe places to operate, spaces for young people
to call their own and engage in activities they could
access. All of this needed to be
brought together with a service comprising a skilled workforce.
Whilst it was recognised there were other services for young people
in the city, the longer- term Council ambition was to make sure
services were better integrated. A wide
range of services for young people were commissioned and offered
and it was felt these should be better integrated so that youth
work was one part of a much bigger provision. Members were proud of the role youth work would
play in the bigger network of provision and would like to see youth
work at the heart of it. Youth work was
seen as forming the trusted relationships with young people and
being better able to direct and support other organisations to make
those connections.
- Members
referred to the presentation on Fairwater Campus at the October
Committee meeting which had a heavy emphasis on its community
brief. Members enquired whether that
was seen as a model for all school sites to adopt in their
communities in the future and whether youth work was seen as an
integral part of a community focussed school. Officers responded that the relationship between
youth work and schools needed to be strengthened. Attempts were
being made to ensure that across all schools had a youth work
presence. However, although it was intended to employ youth workers
in all secondary schools in Cardiff in terms of youth work spaces,
whilst embracing community focussed schools, alternative spaces
were also being sought in leisure centres, scout halls for
instance, and wherever was felt best represented the needs of young
people in the community.
- Members
enquired if there were links with places of worship across the
whole faith. Officers responded that Youth Action Groups were at
the forefront in terms of bringing people together on a locality
basis and were inclusive. Faith- based
membership groups and active church based groups were in place in
the city. Officers welcomed any further
dialogue with faith- based settings but they did exist as partners
within the Youth Action Groups.
- Members
referred to the plans to remain agile and resilient and asked if
more detail could be provided in consideration of the long term
trends over the next 5-10 years in terms of plans, how agile this
plan would be and the contribution of the Performance and
Governance Team. Officers responded that the Performance and
Governance Team would carry out a range of functions across the
service to make it more accountable and transparent, as well as
case-related work to identify individuals, monitor trends, outputs
and outcomes etc. It was noted, for example, that consultation had
taken place during the summer of 2022 with young people living in
Cardiff where it was identified that young people wanted education
around exploitation. An education
programme was sought out to be delivered by schools – VR
Gangs. It was planned to deliver the
training in the coming year as a pilot with the support of
Community Safety. This was provided to
Members as an example of identifying an evidential base for young
people and reacting to that by delivering a programme brief that
met the curriculum need.
- Members
referred to the changes to existing models of practice where
locality teams would be expected to deliver inclusive
practice. Officers were asked how this
would be carried out given that inclusivity was not homogenous with
every strand being different and how it would be possible to
demonstrate and measure true inclusivity, specifically in terms of
Additional Learning Needs (ALN) provision or for those who were
undiagnosed neuro divergent and steps taken to ensure they would be
included in the work of the service. Officers responded that the Authority had a
range of bespoke provision that met different needs. Members noted
that officers had been approached by the Western Learning
Federation who were keen to support the Youth Service going
forwards in the longer-term strategy examining how the service
could be adapted and extended to work with young people who
attended specialist services in the city. Council representatives
were also committed to meet with any group who felt that the
provision was not being met.
- Members
asked if there were programmes in place to tackle mental health and
to empower young people to talk through their issues, including any
work done specifically with males.
Officers responded that there was an ingrained support mechanism
for young people struggling with emotional, health and well-being
issues. There were specific groups
around emotional mental health and well-being with a Wellbeing Club
in St Mellons and another in North Ely.
Youth mentoring was available and primary referrals around
emotional health and well-being offered on a one-to-one
basis. The aim was to create a culture
that was open and inclusive.
- Members
also asked if there was any provision for primary aged children who
struggled with their mental health.
Officers responded that transitions in young peoples’ lives
were very important and especially around the transition from
primary to secondary school. The Youth
Service covered the age range from 11-25 but also had a play
service. Members were informed
that the Service looked at year 6 transition to youth services but
the long-term view was integrating those services to ensure
continuity.
- Members
asked what allowances were made for the chronic under reporting of
crime and anti-social behaviour.
Members were informed that the street-based teams worked closely in
partnership with Community Safety Team and the police to get
‘harder to reach’ young people involved in more
structured activities where anti-social behaviour was
identified.
- Members
noted that the Service was in the early stages of a piece of work
with the Home Office and asked for further information. Officers assured the Committee that the output
from this study could be brought to a future scrutiny committee
meeting.
- Members of
the Committee agreed that they would wish to undertake a range of
visits to youth centres and any other appropriate sites felt to be
appropriate.
- Members
welcomed the news that the Service was taking forward the
recommendations of the review completed in 2022, and asked whether
they could be provided with a “You said, we did”
document arising from the review.
RESOLVED: That the Chairperson
writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing
their comments and observations captured during the way
forward.