Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development which details the evidence to be considered as part of the third formal session of the Scrutiny Board’s inquiry into Youth Services

A report was submitted by the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development which introduced the information to be considered as part of the third formal session of the Scrutiny Board’s inquiry into Youth Services.

Appended to the report for Members’ information was the agreed terms of reference for the inquiry, in addition to evidence relating to Community Safety, the Youth Offending Service, igen, Connexions and the Arts and Events Team.

John Paxton, Head of Youth Service, was in attendance throughout this item in order to answer any questions raised.

Also in attendance to specifically advise Members on the role played by the voluntary, community and faith sector in relation to youth services were Jeni Sawdon, The Marketplace, Louise Megson, St Luke’s Cares, Brent Lumley, Willow Young Carers and Mark Law of BARCA. The main areas of debate were:-

·  Members questioned the actions which could be taken by the Council to assist those voluntary, community and faith organisations which delivered youth services;

·  The wide ranging and extensive support needed to assist young people today, who were increasingly faced with a range of challenging situations;

·  The extent to which certain services, primarily based in a single location, could assist young people residing throughout the city;

·  The large number of organisations which existed in this sector and the need to ensure that a greater level of collaboration between such groups was developed in order to enable a more cohesive provision of services to be established;

·  The geographically uneven provision of youth services by the voluntary, community and faith sector, the reasons for this and the ways in which such service provision could be enhanced;

·  The extent to which cluster groups were aligned with local schools and the ways in which the consistency of such groupings could be improved;

·  The differing forms of deprivation experienced by young people and the geographical spread of such deprivation throughout Leeds.

Andy Mills, Head of Service, Community Safety, Jim Hopkinson, Youth Offending Service Manager and Peter Hunter, Leeds Prevention Programme were in attendance to answer Members’ questions relating to youth service provision and Community Safety. A question and answer session followed a brief summary of the evidence submitted. The main areas of debate were:-

·  Members discussed the work carried out by the junior Youth Inclusion Programmes (YIPs) and considered the potential increase in impact that could be experienced if they were all linked to senior YIPs;

·  The extent to which individuals were referred to the YIPs in Leeds prior to being issued with an Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO);

·  Whether individuals receiving Acceptable Behaviour Contracts were being signposted to relevant services in Leeds;

·  The relationship between youth service provision and the prevention of youth crime;

·  The need for a more co-ordinated approach to be taken by all agencies who delivered services aimed at the reduction of youth offending levels;

·  The primary objectives of a local authority’s youth service provision and whether any services were aimed at the family as a whole rather than solely focussing upon the young person;

·  The levels of funding available for providing services in this field, whether any further funding could be obtained from additional sources and the need to ensure that the funding received was used resourcefully;

·  The strength of the relationship which existed between those bodies providing youth services and law enforcement agencies and the ways in which the relationship between such bodies could be developed further.

Terry Walsh of igen Leeds Careers and Shaid Mahmood of Connexions were in attendance to answer Members’ questions on the provision of services relating to Information, Advice and Guidance. Following a brief summary of the evidence detailed within the reports, a discussion ensued. The main areas of debate were:-

·  The ways in which a balance was struck between a ‘universal’ and a ‘targeted’ approach when delivering information, advice and guidance to young people;

·  The methods used to provide information, advice and guidance to young people who could not be accessed via the formal education system;

·  The extent to which igen Careers Leeds and Connexions provided information to young people aged 16 years and over;

·  The need for young people to be made aware of the wide range of opportunities open to them from an early age;

·  The forthcoming government guidance which would extend the age range covered to those aged 11 years and over.

Andrew MacGill, Head of Arts and Events, Kris Nenadic, Parks and Countryside, Sara Birkinshaw, Sports and Active Recreation, Mike Kinnaird, Head of Policy and Performance and Britta Heyworth, Arts and Reader Development Manager, were in attendance to answer Members’ questions on issues relating to youth services provided through the Learning and Leisure department. The main areas of debate were:-

·  In response to Members’ questions relating to the proportion of young people ‘reached’ by the services provided by the various sections of the department, the Head of Arts and Events undertook to provide Members with such ‘reach’ statistics;

·  The work which had been undertaken by the Council to improve the facilities within local parks throughout Leeds;

·  The diverse range of sports and library based facilities currently provided for young people throughout Leeds and how the extensive provision of such facilities could be developed further;

·  The possibility of music and arts venues becoming available for use;

·  A request for additional information on heritage provision for young people;

·  The relationship which existed between youth service provision and adult education in Leeds.

Ken Morton, EiC Director and Mark Smith of John Smeaton Community High School were in attendance to answer Members’ questions relating to Extended Services. The main areas of debate were:-

·  The extent to which young people were being signposted to the variety of services available to them in Leeds, via the provision of extended services;

·  The possibility of certain organisations establishing satellite units throughout the city in order to accompany the provision of extended services;

·  The extent to which the primary objective of the Youth Service was to fill any gaps in service provision.

RESOLVED –

(a). That the report and information appended to the report be noted;

(b). That the issues raised during the third session of the Board’s inquiry into youth services be incorporated into the draft version of the Board’s final report.

(Councillors Harrison, R D Feldman, Renshaw and Ms C Foote left the meeting at 11.30 a.m., 12.00 p.m., 12.05 p.m. and 12.50 p.m. respectively during the consideration of this item)