News
Insight: essential youth sector analysis and reflection Issue 1, 25 August 2010
25 August 2010
The Coalition Government: the first 100 days
The Coalition Government marked its first 100 days in office on August 18– but what has this meant for the youth sector? An Ipsos Mori poll showed this government is rated more favourably at the 100 day mark than any since 1979, except for Blair’s New Labour in 1997. However, a separate YouGov survey found only 14 per cent of people expect it to survive more than four years.
So what have the coalition’s policies meant for the youth sector?
Top of the Coalition's list is getting to grips with the deficit. On top of £311m in-year cuts to local authority education budgets, the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review is likely to include departmental cuts of at least 25 per cent, effectively reshaping the provision of public services. New Philanthropy Capital is encouraging charities to reflect on how they would respond to the nine questions government departments must answer to prepare for the Spending Review on 20 October. With the creation of the ‘Big Society’ there is a real push towards decentralisation, giving new powers to local councils, communities, neighbourhoods and individuals. There will be less regulation and inspection with a bonfire of the quangos including the Audit Commission, Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA), and the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA), a review of Ofsted, and a move away from the National Indictor Set (NIS) for local authorities.
The changing landscape - key developments for the youth sector:
- There will be devolution of power from state-run schools to a ‘free market’ approach, where ‘new providers’ are encouraged to go it alone and set up their own schools using state funds. So far the DfE says more than 60 schools have begun the process. The Studio Schools Trust, a joint venture between Edge and the Young Foundation, has announced that they intend to use the new legislation to vastly expand the number of new Studio Schools established – an aspiration of one in every local authority, offering practical business and enterprise learning.
- The role of the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), only formed on 1st April this year, has already changed. The YPLA, rather than local authorities, will now be responsible for funding providers directly, on the basis of lagged learner numbers – so if a particular setting was popular with learners last year, it will receive more funding this year. Education Secretary Michael Gove wants local authorities to play a more ‘strategic commissioning role’, taking an overview of local provision. The fate of former Learning and Skills Council staff, transferred to local authorities in April to support them in their commissioning role, is as yet unclear.
- The Government has stated its commitment to supporting the creation of Apprenticeships, internships and college and workplace training, to support young people making the transition into the workplace. It has also announced a one-year increase in funding for Apprenticeships up to April 2011, using existing monies from Train to Gain. However, the duty on schools to ensure that all careers education included Apprenticeships (introduced in the Apprenticeships, Skills Children and Learning Act) was revoked last month.
- In relation to youth services, Children’s Minister Tim Loughton has said he wants to ‘see more imaginative partnerships between local authorities and the voluntary sector and others’. Fiona Blacke, chief executive of the NYA, believes that the future will see central government pulling back, leaving it to local areas to decide what to do with a smaller pot of money. She believes services will still be offered by a range of professionals working around the young person, their peer group, families and communities.
- The Coalition’s flagship youth programme, National Citizen Service (NCS), has been launched. The scheme will run pilots in summer 2011 and will initially provide around 10,000 places. A competitive tendering exercise for organisations to deliver NCS pilots is underway.
Latest statistics on young people NEET
The DfE has released the latest statistics on the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) which shows that the number of 16-18-year-olds classed as NEET has shown a small increase from 195,000 in the first quarter of 2010 to 198,000 at the end of June, but a marked decrease on this time last year. This means figures for this spring are at the lowest of any other spring quarter since 2005. Figures for 19-24 year-olds have dropped from 733,000 to 677,000.
So is the number of young people NEET improving or getting worse?
For 16-year-olds, there are currently 30,000 or 5% of the cohort currently NEET, the lowest level for five years. However, this can be explained by an increase in the numbers in learning.
For 17-year-olds, there are currently 68,000 or10.2% of the cohort currently NEET. This figure has fluctuated considerably in the last five years, but show a marked drop since 2009, when figures reached 93,000.
For 18-year-olds, there are currently 99,000 or 15% of the cohort currently NEET. This figure is remains higher than five years ago and is three times higher than the number of 16-year-olds NEET. This is explained by falling numbers in employment.
How have the statistics been interpreted?
The statistics indicate that opportunities for 18-year-olds to enter higher education, employment or training are decreasing and constraints such as competition for places and fewer jobs, are increasing. Research by ippr and the Private Equity Foundation appears to back this up, highlighting new concerns about the risk of becoming NEET for those young people with both A-levels and degree qualifications, with new analysis suggesting that one in ten young people with A levels are NEET, as are one in ten graduates. However, the Daily Telegraph took a different slant, and quoted campaign group Migrationwatch UK, which claimed a link between the increase in the number of young people who are NEET over the past five years and immigration. A study by the University of York shows how relatively inexpensive youth support projects can produce major public finance savings, and warns that cuts in such programmes could result in significant rises in public expenditure.
Volunteering is increasingly being touted as a valid alternative, and stepping stone to education and employment. Universities Minister David Willetts has urged students who fail to get on to a degree course this year to take up volunteering to enhance their CVs. Evidence from the Prince’s Trust also suggests that young people themselves see volunteering as enhancing the skills they need to find a job. Forthcoming research from the NYA shows increased awareness of volunteering amongst young people as a means of increasing their employment-related skills and making themselves more attractive to employers.
The National Youth Agency (NYA) has developed an Engagement Network, as part of our work with the LG Association, supported through top-sliced funding for local authorities. The network is designed to work with and advise local authorities on their provision and services for young people classed as NEET, and to establish new processes for involving NEET young people in developing the local offer. If you are interested in participation in the Engagement Network or would like further information on the project please email rogerm@nya.org.uk
About the National Youth Agency
The National Youth Agency works in partnership with a wide range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations to support and improve services for young people. Our particular focus is on youth work and we believe that by investing in young people’s personal and social development, young people are better able to live more active and fulfilling lives.
We deliver our work through training and consultancy, campaigning, publishing and on-line communications. Through our activities we want to ensure that young people have a strong voice and positive influence in our society. www.nya.org.uk
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