The possible cuts in the Youth Service in Brent are causing great concern. As you can see above there are two alternatives but in essence the first (CYP3) postpones most of the cuts until 2015-17 and the second (CYP17) make them in 2015-16.
The report (below) suggests looking for alternative sources of funding but this would need to be fully explored to ensure that it is sustainable and would make up for the Council's cuts. (Unlikely in my view)
THE PROPOSALS
Proposed
savings (cuts)
CYP3: The first tranche of savings (£100k) would be
achieved for 15/16 by deleting a managerial post and an operational post as
well a s reducing the budgets which support activities, such as printing and
publicity. From November also the Youth
Service is part of a Cabinet Office ‘Delivering Differently for Young
People’ Programme. This funds a rapid process of developing a set of options
for a new delivery model. In particular, officers have proposed exploring
through this programme the development of a ‘youth trust’ for
Brent which could access funding which currently neither the council nor
Brent’s you h voluntary sector organisations are able to access. This could put
Brent’s youth provision on a more sustainable footing, with the ‘youth trust’
able to act as a consortium lead and enabler for local organisations as well as
being a delivery vehicle, using the expertise of Brent’s experienced and
skilled youth workers. As part of this process, alternative funding sources
could be identified to mitigate the loss of services from the budget reduction
of £900k in 16/17.
CYP17:This option
terminates all Youth Service spend for 15/16. This would involve making all the
staff redundant (full time and sessional workers as well as managers). The
services terminated would be:
Outreach
and Detached Team and Youth Bus – which has a key preventative role in
relation to youth disorder and gang violence Poplar Grove Youth Club – year
round provision targeting young people from Chalkhill and surrounding areas.
Mosaic
LGBT Project – award winning provision for a key group of young people
liable
to risk and discrimination Duke of Edinburgh Award – Brent is a very successful
provider with a high success rate
Granville
Youth Arts Centre – youth arts provision which supports re engagement in
education and work
Brent
in Summer – the youth contribution to this programme has good attendance
Brent Youth Parliament
Wembley
Youth Centre – high quality provision
 |
| Funded with £5m from the Big Lottery - opened November 2012 |
Roundwood
Youth Centre LINK would have to be transferred to an organisation willing to meet
all running costs and TUPE relevant staff since closure would require very
large scale repayment of government grant.
Some of the above services have partial external funding and with
alternative funding sources being found, some provision could remain and
officers would work with partners to ensure this.
The council
has a statutory duty to provide sufficient activities for young people but does
not have to provide them itself. Some councils have almost terminated their
youth offer and simply put a signposting page on their website.
How would
this affect users of this service?
Young
people in Brent experience high levels of deprivation, high levels of gang and
serious youth violence, high levels of youth offending (especially more serious
offences), high levels of mortality in the under 17 age group and
high levels of sexually transmitted diseases.
The current
youth provision is located in areas of highest deprivation and is able to
target crime hotspots, including key estates. It also supports young people who
have arrived as unaccompanied minors, LGBT young people who are at risk of
mental health issues and homelessness as well as young people who are at risk
of radicalisation and involvement in gangs. There is significant work with
young Afghani males and young males from Somali communities. There are also
programmes targeting young females.
Young
people involved in our provision, especially the Duke of Edinburgh award,
contribute at least 5,000 hours of volunteering to the local community.
The
loss of Brent Youth Parliament would reduce young people in Brent’s opportunity
to participate not just locally but nationally through the UK Youth Parliament.
Key
milestones
CYP3:
Consult on
staff reorganisation in December 2014 to deliver savings for April 2015 Options
appraisal from Delivering Differently for Young People – February 2015, with
report to Cabinet on proposed option for future delivery of youth provision –
March or April 2015.
CYP17:
Consult with
local communities (especially Brent Youth Parliament) on cessation of youth
services/closure of youth facilities – January and February at the same time
as consulting staff on redundancy/redeployment.
Approach
schools and other organisations for buy back of youth services
Key
consultations
Whatever
option is taken forward, there will need t o be extensive consultation with
young people and service users including groups who may be particularly
affected.
Young
people, especially those from BME groups, will be disproportionately affected
as well as LGBT young people and young people with special educational needs.
Key risks
and mitigations
The council
will need to be mindful of the November2013 ruling by the Court of Appeal that
North Somerset Council acted unlawfully when it cut its youth service budget by 72
per cent. The learning from this is that there must be adequate consultation
and consideration (through equality impact assessment etc) of the needs of
vulnerable users.
Youth
services are essentially part of the council’ s ‘early help’ offer and
therefore contribute to preventing young people causing spending down the line
through crime, anti social behaviour, social care, poor mental health etc.
There is
also potential for ‘capital clawback’ on certain buildings e.g. Roundwood Youth
Centre was built with Big Lottery funding.
The Council Equality Impact Screening lists the following groups to have a 'disproportionate adverse impact' From the proposals:
Disabled people, particular ethnic groups, men or women, people of particular sexual orientation, people undergoing gender reassignment, particular age groups and those with particular faiths or beliefs.
The proposal go first to Cabinet on December 15th and then follow the timetable set out in the side panel
