Barnsley Voice and Influence

BASIC INFORMATION

Case study date: September 2005

Local authority in which project based: Barnsley

Date started: 2001/2002

Type of organisation: statutory youth service

Brief description, including aims and objectives

Barnsley Youth Service's Voice and Influence Team was set up in 2001 to focus on capacity building to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place to allow young people to engage face to face with key decision makers. Speakout meetings provide the mainstay of the infrastructure. The team also support a democratically elected youth council, youth summits, website, conferences, programmes of personal and social development and links with Connexions South Yorkshire's work on Engaging Young People. Membership of UK Youth Parliament and links with European Youth Parliament through youth council provide a voice at national and international level. The involvement of young people in decision making-processes has led to an impact on local service provision and facilities including outdoor skate parks, youth shelters across the borough, indoor skate park for the town centre, obtaining funding to run specific projects and support the youth council, environmental improvements, and a review of policing methods as a result of a Speakout consultation.

If initiative as a whole is a collaboration between different agencies, please give details of lead agency and other partners here

Connexions - Children's Trust

Funding - amounts, sources and timescales

Core funding derives from Barnsley Youth Service. Voice and Influence Team budget for 2004-05 was approximately £285,000, £50,000 of which is allocated to the Youth Council. Kendray Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder and Connexions South Yorkshire also fund additional posts in the team and operational costs.

Staffing: number of FT/PT/volunteer staff. For partnerships, please include staff from all agencies

Voice and Influence staff team consists of a full-time Participation and Inclusion Manager; one full-time Involving Young People's Coordinator, one full-time Youth Council Support Worker; and a team of fifteen half-time Participation Workers. One participation worker has a remit to engage looked after young people within decision making processes and there is another post that supports BME young people engaging with decision-makers.

NATURE OF PROVISION

Which groups of young people does the project work with and why? Please provide information on numbers, age range, gender, ethnicity and any other relevant aspects

Voice and Influence aims to reach all young people across the nine Area Forums within the borough of Barnsley. The Youth Council comprises of 27 democratically elected young people aged 13-19, from across the Barnsley area.

How was the need for the project identified, and by whom?

Barnsley Youth Service developed the Voice and Influence arm of the service following recommendations arising from a council elected member's workshop which identified a need to improve approaches to engaging young people. Further developments have come as a result of the council's decision to adopt the Hear by Right standards and agreement that each council department produce an action plan for involving young people.

How do young people become involved? What, if any, commitment do you ask for?

Young people's involvement is on a voluntary basis. Youth councillors are invited to nominate themselves and democratic elections are then held. Successful candidates are asked to undertake the necessary training to fulfil the role of councillor, consult with and attend meetings with young people, council meetings and liaise/attend meetings with decision-makers as necessary.

What are the main approaches used and activities offered?

Full youth council meetings are held once a month, to which key decision-makers may be invited. A range of methods are used to gain the views of other young people, focusing on capacity building rather than formal structures in the nine area forum areas. The mainstay of the infrastructure are Speakout meetings. Speakout meetings take place monthly, organised with and for young people by the participation workers. Young people set the agenda, and adults with responsibilities for those services relating to topical issues/concerns are regularly invited to attend. At the close of discussion, action points are agreed and recorded and young people discuss when and how feedback is to take place. Youth participation workers support projects emerging from these sessions. Youth council has developed range of approaches to involving other young people, including arts-based consultations, website forums and youth summits. Youth summits take place in each area forum with themes including health, education, aspirations, re-making Barnsley - a series of summits based on the government's Every Child Matters five outcomes are planned for 2005.

The youth council website provides opportunities for young people to contribute to discussion forums and take part in polls on specific issues. An information and advice service covering sex, drugs/alcohol, transport/travel, education/training and entertainment/leisure is also provided on-line.

Pilot programmes of personal and social development have been used to assess the needs of young people, providing accredited training for those involved.

How are young people involved in shaping the project/programme?

Young people are involved in all aspects of the youth council's development, initially through the democratic process of elections and subsequently through assisting with planning and preparation of speakout meetings, consulting/liaising with other young people and decision-makers. Members of the youth council have organised an anti-racist event, held council surgeries, developed a web-site, undertaken presentations, made a video for Barnsley Children's Trust. Following youth summits young people help ensure that key actions are taken forward through incorporation into the Community Plan.

How does the project respond to the needs of different young people, particularly the most marginalised?

A series of youth summits are planned for looked after young people, young people with learning difficulties and disabilities and minority ethnic young people to express their views on issues affecting them. The Connexions Service assists with establishing contact/encouraging hard to reach young people, eg. asylum seekers, lone parents, to feed into decision-making processes. The team now has two workers with a specific remit to engage with BME young people and looked after young people. This work has already led to the development of a BME youth committee and BME young people being co-opted onto the youth council.

OUTCOMES OF WORK

How do young people benefit from their involvement in the project? Please be specific

Pilot programmes of personal and social development resulted in 20 young people undertaking both Youth Achievement Awards and gaining First Aid certificates. Links with Barnsley's twin town in Germany have been made through the European Youth Council.

How do other young people, organisations or the wider community benefit from the project? Please be specific.

The involvement of young people in decision making-processes has led to an impact on local service provision and facilities including outdoor skate parks, youth shelters across the borough, indoor skate park for the town centre, obtaining funding to run specific projects and support the youth council, environmental improvements, and a review of policing methods as a result of a Speakout consultation. Young people have also been instrumental in the development of structures, which continue to ensure meaningful involvement between young people and decision-makers and the associated accountability. The youth summits (2003) have also led to young people working alongside service providers to reshape services to meet the needs of young people. One example of this is where young people played a key role in commissioning health services for young people

Does the project contribute to community cohesion? If so, how?

The neighbourhood management aspect of the project won an award from the ODPM for its involvement in community cohesion. Through bringing together representative groups from all the different communities the project has enabled community cohesion to take place. Also specific work is undertaken with the different groups to raise awareness of the needs, cultures and aspirations of the other groups within their community.

How are young people's progress and achievements measured and recorded? Please include details of any accreditation offered

Recorded outcomes, Youth Train, AQA, ASDAN, Millennium Volunteers, Youth Achievement Awards, Youth council minutes of meetings, minutes/action points from Speakouts, Hear By Right Standards.

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

How is the project evaluated and by whom? Please include both internal and external processes

Individual projects are evaluated by staff and young people.

Impacts are measured against the Hear by Right standards

The only external evaluation undertaken so far was through the OFSTED inspection 2004

What are the findings of any evaluations (including Ofsted inspections) to date?

Ofsted noted that youth service offered young people a wide range of opportunities 'to develop their understanding and skills and the chance to take part in local democratic structures'.

What changes/developments have occurred - or are planned - as a result of evaluation?

The format of Speakouts have been changed due to evaluation. Specific posts have been developed to ensure that the project is more inclusive. A Voice and Influence Task Group for the Children and Young People's s Strategic Partnership has been developed including agencies from the statutory, voluntary and community sectors. This ensures that a more coordinated approach to Voice and Influence is undertaken in Barnsley.

What factors help the work? Please be specific

Through having adequate resources and the political backing through the Democratic Engaging Elected Members Policy Workshop. The workshop has been meeting since 1999 on a bi monthly cycle. Minutes can be accessed on http://www.barnsley.gov.uk/

What factors hinder the work? Please be specific

Adult boards just wanting to put one young person on the board in order to tick the box.

Adult structures that are not flexible enough in order to enable young people to participate.

Unrealistic deadlines set by Government when asking for consultations that do not enable consultations or decisions to be fully inclusive.

PARTNERSHIP/MULTI-DISCIPLINARY WORKING

What other agencies do you work with (if not specified in section 1)

Social Services, Education, Connexions, YOT, Children's fund and both voluntary and community youth organisations. The Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership

When working in partnership, what is the distinctive contribution of your organisation/project?

Through having trained staff and adequate resources we can contribute both resources and full understanding of youth engagement issues.

Has this partnership resulted in greater collaboration or increased understanding between partners? If so, how?

Yes, through the Voice and Influence task group of the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership there is a lot more collaboration taking place and understanding between partners. This has resulted in more joint working and joined up thinking.

STRATEGIC IMPACT

Do you consider this project to be innovative? If so, how?

Yes. We have undertaken lots of initiatives that have been groundbreaking and have ensured that in Barnsley both regionally and nationally young people have influenced key decisions. Also the structures are now in place to enable young people to influence and 'shape' service delivery.

How do you disseminate the learning from the project?

We have currently applied for Beacon Council status which if successful will give us more resources to disseminate our practice. We have already written many reports that have been widely distributed and spoken at many conferences. We have had other authorities visit in order for them to examine and explore our practice and strategies.

Has the learning from this work influenced wider organisational/service strategies? If so, how?

Yes the Barnsley Children and Young People's youth engagement strategy.

What plans do you have to sustain/develop this work?

Through ensuring that our funding is not short term and is core funded we feel that sustainability is not a key issue for us. Also through having the council adopt the Hear by Right standards the work is key to future council developments.

CONTACT DETAILS

Andy Flemming
BarnsleyYouth Service
Berneslai Close
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2HS

Tel: 07976 264155
E-mail: andyflemming@barnsley.gov.uk or mailto:Andy.fleming2@btinternet.com
Website: http://www.barnsleyyouth.com/