The Committee received a verbal presentation
in relation to strengths and weaknesses of the Youth Service from
the Area Managers for the North, Mid and South of the Borough.
The Chair, Councillor Hands reported that
information packs had previously been circulated to Members in
relation to the Youth Service.
The following strengths and weaknesses for the
North of the Borough were reported:-
Strengths within the
North:-
- Regular meetings of partners and
providers of service to young people to encourage integrated
working take place.
- Highly visible International
Focus to develop young peoples understanding of global issues and
wider community.
- Active input by staff and young
people on the appropriateness of the curriculum with each defined
curriculum area having a professional youth worker lead, who
produce sessions that other youth workers can adapt / modify to
suit the needs of their group if & when required. Good links in
all Projects & Programmes as well as Plans to Every Child
Matters Outcomes.
- Strong Partnership working &
relationships with a range of internal & external partners,
appreciating the major cultural change, undertaken by Service to
become more self – evaluative & outward
looking.
- Partnership working has improved
accessibility as well as publicity of opportunities and activities
to young people.
- Well-structured Commissioning
process that has widened & increased the number as well as
range of partners. (e.g. working with Leisure Services for the
‘Places to Go Things To Do’ programme.
- Acquisition of ‘Board
Marker’ for people with disabilities to
communicate.
- Development and funding of media
coverage to promote positive image of young people, including their
contribution to their local communities, as well as the services of
Sefton Youth Service.
- Adoption of ‘Model for
Participation’ based on the ‘Ladder of
Participation’ with representation of Voluntary &
Statutory voice groups. This has opened up opportunities for a
wider range of young people to be involved and contribute to the
development & delivery of Youth Services.
- Accreditation & celebration
of workforce & young peoples achievements, accredited &
non-accredited, including team development.
Future
Challenges/Developments:
- Fully develop an area based
integrated approach to youth services as some partners are unaware
of the Integrated Youth Support Services.
- Better advertise the youth offer
across Sefton.
- Improve ‘youth voice’
across all Sefton.
- Support Commissioned
organizations to fully utilize the electronic monitoring system and
to ensure regular returns of progress.
- Encourage a wider representation
of young people on the media group to promote positive images of
themselves and their peers.
- Refurbish buildings that are in a
poor state of repair.
It was reported that the area had
exceeded its expectations with the limited resources it has.
However, in order to achieve the challenges/developments stated
above and to meet the constant demands of others to work in other
areas of the north then additional resources would be
required.
The following strengths and challenges
for the Mid Area of the Borough were reported:-
Strengths within the Mid Area:-
·
Enthusiastic and committed
workforce.
- Skilled and knowledgeable workforce.
- Flexible work force able to generally respond to the
wide variety of issues and expectations partners have of
us.
- Developed effective partnership working that has
enabled young people to have the opportunity to access a breadth of
provision in a user - friendly environment.
- Clear line management structure.
- Strengthened service identity.
Future Developments/Challenges within the Mid
Area
- A need to
increase the number of young people gaining accreditations within
centre.
- Fully
linking the work that is delivered to the youth service
curriculum.
- A
continued sharing of good practice across the area to enable all
workers to understand what good practice is and to continue to
raise quality of delivery.
- Fully
imbed the inputting of EYS within area teams to develop accuracy in
evidencing the work we deliver.
- While we
respond to our partners expectations of us as positively as we can
there is often a resource implication to this. To fully respond to
area issues and new developments/trends and to fill gaps within
geographical areas and respond to needs analysis an increase in
staffing resource would be beneficial.
- Continued
development of a closer working relationship between the youth
service and the voluntary sector.
It was reported that
the youth service aim is to create a world class workforce for children, young people and
their families and have agreed that everyone who works with young
people should, be:-
- Ambitious
for every young person;
- Excellent
in their practice;
- Committed
to partnership and integrated work; and
- Respected
and valued as individuals.
The following strengths and
challenges for the South of the Borough were reported:-
Strengths within the South:-
- Area based
working/planning - Enabling movement of staff to support vacancies,
sickness and annual leave.
- Youth Opportunities
Funding (YOF) - All units submitted bids for YOF linked to targets
within area/unit plan enabling Youth Voice and greater
participation.
- Building Stock being
address through youth voice.
- Commissioning -
Greater engagement and partnership working with the
3rd sector. Wider accessibility to funding within the
3rd sector. Specific pieces of work commissioned to enable the
targeting and engagement of vulnerable groups linked to hard
targets and outcomes.
- Development of
accredited programme delivery - All units have targets for
accreditation and all staff are accountable via bi monthly staff
meetings. All Full Time staff
participation in the development and delivery of area wide
programmes.
- Quality Assurance -
Clear and accountable line management chain
Unit/Area communication within scheduled team meetings
Supervision/Personal Development Review schedule/structure linked
to training.
Recorded visits – Peer inspections – Mystery Shopper
– NYA Quality Kite Mark.
- CAF - Full time staff
engaging with CAF and being identified by young people.
Future Challenges/Developments:-
- Building Stock -
Continued focus required to improve buildings and develop fit for
purpose space. There aren’t any
Local Authority buildings in the south
- Continued focus on
Recorded and Accredited engagement - South staff had sharp incline
and in comparison to last years figures have done well however this
focus needs to become ingrained in qualitative practice and
delivery
- Staffing - Greater
accountability and confidence building linked to role,
responsibility and the management of staff. Staff development within a change
culture.
- Capacity - Deployment
of Resource linked to the delivery of universal services, targeting
and engagement of the most vulnerable and responding to hot
spots. Proactive – Reactive youth
work/positive activities.
- Sharing/Pooling of
knowledge Resources - Operational division between Local Authority
and the 3rd Sector. Greater need for effective and ongoing transparent
communication.
- Strengthen the Youth
Voice in Units.
During the verbal presentation
Members were given the opportunity to ask questions, share views
and comment upon the content.
Members referred to the
structure chart within the information packs that had previously
been circulated to them and raised concerns in relation to the
staff vacancies for the post of “Worker In Charge” at
the Birkdale and Formby Youth Centres.
Members asked “What Youth Services were
provided for Looked After Children”?
It was reported that a Youth Worker had been
seconded to the Social Care team and during the Christmas period
318 young people between the ages of 11 and 19 had taken part in
activities and of those 318 young people, 174 were Looked After
Children. It was also reported that the
Youth Worker works on a one to one
basis with Looked After Children and assists with their Personal
Education Plans.
Members requested reassurances on how the
services were safeguarded, the following safeguarding measures were
reported:-
- Educational visits procedure was in
place;
- System recording the location of
each youth worker;
- Robust Health and Safety
protocols;
- Acceptable behaviour contract;
and
- Anti-bullying contract.
RESOLVED:
That:-
(1) the three area
Managers be thanked for their presentations; and
(2) the Cabinet Member
for Children’s Services be requested to examine the staffing
arrangements across the Youth Service specifically looking at
“Worker In Charge” staff vacancies for the Borough with
a view to the closure of Youth Centres being avoided.