The National Youth Agency - Comprehensive Spending Review

Comprehensive Spending Review

The 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review included a number of key points:

Also of interest...

Education spending in England rising on average by 2.8 per cent a year in real terms.
An additional £250 million over the CSR period to provide personalized services for school children.
The DCSF settlement for extended services includes £217 million a year by 2010-11 to support access to two hours a week of free extended activities.
An increase in the JSA and Income Support rates for 16-17-year olds to align with the 18-24 rates. (5.37)
Ensuring all children and young people have access to a planned and coherent programme of personal finance education. (5.49)
Public spaces – whether they are schools, local health centres, sports facilities, museums, Sure Start centres or youth clubs – bring people together and enable them to build strong communities. (6.25)
The third sector will be a key delivery partner across the full set of Public Service Agreements, particularly in the areas of youth services, as well as specifically contributing to the PSA to build more cohesive, empowered and active communities through increased volunteering and growth in social enterprise. (6.31)
A successful Olympic and Paralympic Games with a sustainable legacy, including encouraging more children and young people to take part in high quality physical education and sport. (6.36)

The Government also announced a reformed performance management framework which places increased emphasis on a new relationship with public sector professionals and includes a smaller, streamlined set of 30 new PSAs articulating the Government's highest priority outcomes for the CSR07 period.

Each PSA is underpinned by a single Delivery Agreement shared across all contributing departments and developed in consultation with delivery partners and frontline workers.

PSA Delivery Agreement 14: Increase the number of children and young people on the path to success

This PSA will measure progress in increasing successful transitions to adulthood in terms of increased participation and increased resilience, alongside tackling negative outcomes. There are five indicators:

1. Reduce the percentage of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET)
2. More participation in positive activities
3. Reduce the proportion of young people frequently using illicit drugs, alcohol or volatile substances
4. reduce the under-18 conception rate
5. Reduce the number of first-time entrants to the Criminal Justice System aged 10-17.

Each PSA sets out priority actions, where the government will work with its partners to take action – these include:

Pooling budgets to promote integrated working
What this means for central government
The Department of Health will make clear to Strategic Health Authorities that Primary Care Trusts are expected to pool their budgets for preventing poor adolescent health with local authorities
Youth Offending Teams are expected to pool with local youth support services 10 per cent of the Youth Justice Board funding they would expect to devote to young people’s prevention initiatives.

What this means for local authorities and their partners

Partners will be encouraged to pool funding through Local Area Agreements to meet common objectives. It will be for local partners, as part of the LAA process to agree how to utilise their resources to best deliver improved outcomes for all.

Developing the capacity of the workforce

Progress will be dependent on the ongoing reform of the children’s workforce and close cooperation among the sector skills councils that support the different occupational groups within the youth workforce.
PSA 14 reiterates the actions first announced in Aiming high for young people and includes: the need for a new leadership and management initiative; testing ways of attracting more people into the workforce; supporting the training needs of volunteers and the introduction of a common set of skills and training.

What this means for government

The government will work with sector skills councils and national representative bodies in ensuring that the new investment is targeted on gap areas and in further developing a clear strategic direction for the workforce.
Supporting active participation of young people and their families in the commissioning, design and delivery of services
Young people need to be empowered and supported to get involved and make choices – and these need to be informed by dialogue, useful and accessible information, recognition and structured support.

What this means for government

Aiming High for young people sets out the government’s intention to embed and build upon existing arrangements which involve young people in the design and delivery of local services.
The government will continue to fund the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds and further investment in third sector providers who can support more marginalised young people to become involved.

What this means for local authorities

Every local authority will be expected to have systems that enable the views of young people and their families.
Ensuring that other key public services support young people and their families

What this means for government

The DCSF is leading the programme of targeted youth support and will:
Provide clarity on what the reforms involve and require;
Provide practical implementation support and challenge to local areas that are struggling to reform services; and
Provide help in building a shared understanding and consistency of approach with vulnerable teenagers across services.
Other PSAs include:
10) A new PSA to Raise the educational achievement of all children and young people.
11) A new PSA to Narrow the gap in educational achievement between children from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers.
12) A new PSA to Improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
13) A new PSA to improve children and young people's safety which will focus on reducing bullying, reducing unintentional and deliberate injuries to children.
15) A new PSA to address the disadvantage that individuals experience because of their gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
More information on the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 can be found at the Treasury website >>
Useful reading
Written by Viv McKee, Director of Policy and Development, this document looks at some of the policy territory and begins to explore what this looks like on the ground.
We want the best for our young people
This is the latest leaflet from The National Youth Agency in its Spending Wisely series.