The National Youth Agency - The National Youth Agency welcomes improved local authority expenditure for young people

The National Youth Agency welcomes improved local authority expenditure for young people

23 May 2008
Expenditure on local authority youth services has risen by £26 million, The National Youth Agency audit report for 2006-07 reveals. Total national net expenditure on youth services increased by 8 per cent on the previous year to £371 million. On average, local authorities spent £84 per head on their 13 to 19-year-old youth population, an increase of £4 per head on the previous year. In addition local authorities levered in, on average, an extra £20 per 13 to 19-year-old.

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Outcomes for young people have also improved. Sixty-three authorities met or exceeded the 60 per cent benchmark for participants gaining a recorded outcome (46 per cent of 138 respondents) compared to 49 (35 per cent of 142) authorities in 2005-06. At the same time, 39 authorities met or exceeded the 30 per cent benchmark for participants gaining an accredited outcome (28 per cent of 138 respondents) compared to 26 (18 per cent of 142) authorities in 2005-06.

The NYA welcomes these improvements but believes that in order for such progress to continue, attention must now be focused on issues facing youth work staffing. Over the same year, the number of full-time or equivalent staff employed through the local authority decreased from 7,804 in the 142 responding authorities to 7,480 in 140 responding authorities.

Viv McKee, Director of Policy, Information and Research at The NYA, said “The clear commitment by local authorities is very much welcomed. It is also pleasing to see how youth work services are improving outcomes for young people. Youth workers are key to making the difference. We know this. Young people tell us this. We welcome the national and local focus on workforce reform and hope that this will result in a sufficient workforce.”

The NYA’s audit report for 2006-07 can be found on its new website together with comparative data for individual authorities: www.nya.org.uk/audit

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Notes to News Editor:

Comparisons between authorities are provided as a general guide only and variations in the processes of collecting and evaluating data mean that care should be exercised in interpreting trends.

For more information contact Andy Hopkinson, Media Services. E-mail: andyh@nya.org.uk. Tel: 0116 242 7480.