Helping Young People Make a Positive Difference to Their Lives and Communities

Youth Service

Business Development Plan

2012-13

“Helping young people make a positive difference to their lives and communities”

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Contents

Introduction

Key Policies Drivers

Bath & North East Somerset’s Council’s Children And Young People’s Plan 2011-14

Bath And North EastSomerset Area Community Issues

Key Achievements In Previous Year2011-12 Across The Service

The Main OverarchingObjectives For2012/13

2014/15 – Key Priorities...... 19

Training And Development Plan...... 19

Youth Service Training Plan 2011–13

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Introduction

This is the Youth Service Development Plan for Bath & North East Somerset Council for 2012/13. Currently we are engaged in a period of rapid change. This includes aligning closer to other providers over the next two years including Connexions, the YOT, Youth Offending Team and other Council Departments who work with young people. Over the next year we will need to further develop partnerships work with voluntary sector projects. Through the small grants programme we can also support new and existing projects to meet young people’s needs, especially those most vulnerable, and in targeted geographical areas.

This plan represents the continued development of our approach to Youth Work for young people aged 11 to 25 years, focusing on 13 – 19 year olds, and the planning and evaluation process. Youth work will be delivered through the four Youth Hubs and the Mobile Youth Bus, over the coming year. Our approach involves reviewing the targets in the Youth Service Plan for 2011/12 and, building on success as well as setting new targets / objectives to meet the ever changing needs of young people. There will be an end of year report highlighting all the good work completed by staff, volunteers and young people, on the website for further information.

In this document we have set a number of specific challenges for staff (including Volunteers) linking up with the National and local drivers. In addition to the targets for 2012/13, this plan looks over the next 2 years up to 2015 to show the strategic direction. This is important because it enables young people, staff and key partners, to have a clear indication about the direction in which the Service is going.

This plan should be read inconjunction with and contributes to the objectives with the Children’s and Young People’s Plan, the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Plan, and the Youth Justice Plan.

Paula Bromley

Principal Youth Officer

Bath and North East Somerset

Youth Service

April 2012

Key Policies Drivers

Key Policies that drive the work of the Youth Service as part of the 11 – 18 Preventative Services Agenda.

‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM) together with the Children Act 2004, radically reformed Children’s Services and local practices to ensure improved outcomes for all Children and Young People. The five outcomes at the core of Every Child Matters are:

1. Be healthy;

2. Stay safe;

3. Enjoy and achieve;

4. Make a positive contribution; and

5. Achieve economic well-being

The Youth Service Plan is written up against these 5 outcomes clearly demonstrating the Service’s contributions towards them.

The Policy that specifically related to young people was set out in Youth Matters (2005), and Youth Matters: next steps (2006), which developed proposals for a ‘radical reshaping of universal services for teenagers – with targeted support for those who need it most’. Since January 2007 there has been a statutory duty on local authorities, working in partnership with the voluntary and private sectors, to promote the well-being of young people aged 13 to 19 (up to 25 for those with learning difficulties) through securing access to educational and recreational leisure-time activities (referred to as ‘positive activities’).

Local Authorities have a statutory duty to secure sufficient provision of Positive Activities for young people (including those with learning difficulties up to the age of 24) in their local area, as set out in section 507B of the Education Act (1996).

In July 2007 the Government published Aiming High for young people, which sets out a ten-year strategy for positive activities. It proposes a range of initiatives under three main headings:

Empowerment: giving young people real influence over local services

Access and inclusion: ensuring all young people are able to access the opportunities available to them.

Capacity and quality: raising the quality of services and opportunities for young people.

In 2011 the Government published “The Positive for Youth Strategy”– this policy demonstrates that Services should take a new approach to work with young people (13-19 year olds). The key points are:-

• Young People’s Voice
• Commissioning
• Partnerships with the Business and Private Sectors
• Volunteering and the National Citizenship Scheme
• Health and Wellbeing
• Early Intervention
• Transitions and relationships
• Narrowing the gap, outcomes and impacts

Positive for Youth

In 2012 the Government confirmed it will retain the duty on Local Authorities as set out in “Section 507B of the Education Act 2006” to secure sufficient educational and recreational leisure time activities for the improvement of the wellbeing of 13 – 19 year olds so far as is reasonably practicable. The duty also requires local authorities to ascertain and take into account young people’s views and to publicise information about the local offer of all provision.

Bath & North East Somerset’s Council’s Children and Young People’s Plan 2011-14

Our vision “That all children and young people will do better in life than they thought they could”

Our mission is twofold:

1. To ensure that all children and young people are safe
2. To tackle inequalities and close the achievement gap

The key priorities are:

1. Healthy life styles are promoted for children and young people
2. Action is taken to promote children and young people’s mental health
3. Children and young people are provided with a safe environment
4. Closing the attainment and achievement gap for specific groups of children and young people and in specific geographical areas
5. Children and young people and their parents/carers participate more in strategic planning and decision making
6. The development of services for disabled children
7. 14 – 19 education and training is planned and delivered in a co-ordinated way, and to ensure that education and training (16-19) is of

good quality.

Bath and North East Somerset Area Community Issues

Bath & North East Somerset has healthy, safe communities and overall levels of deprivation are well below the national average. However, there are pockets of deprivation within the district. A small number of neighbourhoods feature within the most deprived 10% in the country, with one featuring in the most deprived 5%[1] which is in stark contrast to the majority of the area and results in significant levels of inequality and impacts adversely on the life chances of the young people living in these areas. Ensuring an appropriate service for young people living in these deprived areas will be a feature of future youth service planning including detached/outreach/mobile provision.

People who live in Bath and North East Somerset continue to enjoy better than average health compared with the country as a whole. For the period 2006-2008, life expectancy for both males and females was significantly in excess of the national average, although again this masks considerable health inequalities within small pockets of the community. The Youth Service is recognised for its contribution to improving young people’s sexual health and lowering the number of conceptions for Under-18s.

Although crime levels are low, fear of crime and anti-social behaviour are priorities for local people. Evidence shows pockets or “hotspots” of crime in particular localities. The Youth Service is key partners working with the Police and Anti-Social Behaviour team to decrease this type of activity as and when possible.

Additionally, there are identifiable “communities of interest” such as people with learning difficulties and disabilities and some black and other minority ethnic (BOME) communities who fare significantly less well than mainstream residents with many of the same deprivation issues as the neighbourhoods described above.

Narrowing the gap between the most and least affluent is a real challenge facing the area and impacts on a multitude of factors, including health, educational achievement and access to services. This leads to a variety of related issues including poverty of aspiration within a number of isolated areas. Addressing inequality is essential in building stronger communities and all services working with teenagers must contribute to this.

The desirability of Bath & North East Somerset as a place to live and associated high quality of life has led to very high housing costs, with the area featuring in the 5% least affordable housing areas in the country. Young people on a low wage or on benefits, those with challenging behaviour, those who cannot live with their families face serious accommodation problems.

The road and rail network are at capacity and congestion across the area is a problem in terms of journey times and public transport travel times. Congestion is also affecting air quality and in areas of Bath City Centre air pollution has reached levels that are higher than the Government recommended acceptable limits. For young people the lack of public transport on all but the major routes combined with its high cost limits their engagement in personal development and leisure activities and also impact on access to education, employment and training.

KEYACHIEVEMENTS IN PREVIOUS YEAR

2011-12 ACROSS THE SERVICE

TEAM PRIORITIES FOR 2012-13

1. Youth Enablement Fund gave out 41 grants totalling £130,046 during 2011/12.

1. To provide 4 Youth Hubs and 1 Mobile to work with Young People 11 – 25 years focusing on those 13 – 19 years.

1. Southside Youth Hub was successfully opened by the Vice Chair Councillor Rob Appleyard and Radio 1 DJ, Ras Kwame, in September 2011.

1. To provide 1:1 small group work and open access drop in through current provisionacross the area.

1. The Youth Service purchased a new Youth Mobile which is now being used 5 nights per week across the Authority working with targeted groups of young people.

1. Support the on-going development of DofE and launch the new Open Award Centre in Bath.

1. 1:1 work and small group work has been well established this year with the launch of a new referral pack.

1. To provide youth work, personal and social education to support work to meet the needs of young people most vulnerable, to narrow the gap.

1. 1413 young people engaged with Positive Activities with 433 gaining an accredited outcome. They also ran a successful celebrations event to showcase this work.

1. Actively promote sports during Olympic Year to raise young people’s aspirations.

1. The Duke of Edinburgh Development Worker opened Bath Open Award Centre. Monkton Combe Schoolhad their first 5 Gold’s whilst being part of the Scheme and Somervale and Chew Valley have reopened the Award in their School during the year.

1. To support vulnerable groups of young people eg young carers, young disabled people, either directly or by working with others, particularly focusing on young people’s development by participating in meaningful inclusive youth work activities and positive outcomes.

1. Peasedown Youth Hub’s Art room was completely refurbished.

1. To continue to improve the facilities on offer to young people, particularly focusing on Peasedown during 2012 / 13 as capital funding can be identified.

1. The Youth Service redrafted it’s Youth ServiceVision and Young People’s Pledge, which was signed off by Cabinet.

The main overarching objectives for 2012/13

• 50 young people will gain an accredited outcome to measure the impact - e.g. Food Hygiene Awards and Skill Me Up etc.

• 1000 young people engaging in sport recorded on QES and via DofE
• Reduced anti-social behaviour.
• Numbers of young people gaining Awards e.g. sports leader, and trampolining.
• Numbers of young people involved in the Barclays Sports Programme.

• Numbers of clinics who engage with Sexual Health programmes

• Better informed young people who are able to make well informed choices.
• 40 young people involved in 1:1 work with examples of case studies produced to show examples of youth work

• 20 workshops provided.
• Acceptable behaviour contracts in place in all projects and developing a charter in projects showing a commitment to reduce bullying
• 120 Young people attended the workshops

• Numbers of staff attending training courses e.g. safeguarding, lead professional, and equalities etc.

• Numbers recorded on QES engaged with Positive Activities against the targets set as on QPR.

• Contacts, participantsas identified on QPR / QES.

• 5 joint service wide offsite activities run by staff in the year
• 25 residential by the Service
• All work advertised locally in schools, shop and on B-Active etc.

• A draft statement will be written, consulted on then publicised.

• 500 young people engaging in arts activities measured by numbers of accredited outcomes such as Asdan, Skill Me Up.

• Links with Off the Record and Children’s Society groups to promote on going good work.

• Good recorded notes of decision making processes, Skill Me Up. Young people engaged in 90% of interviews taken are completed in the Youth Service

• Enablement Fund to the Voluntary Sector.

• 3 staff supporting this work.

• 4 meetings per year in each youth hub. Notes of key actions displayed in the building.