Youth Services

In 2007-08 on average, total gross expenditure per head of the 13-19 youth population was £119, one pound per head less than in 2006-07.  On average, total net expenditure, which excludes other sources of funding levered in by services, was £84 per head of the 13-19 youth population, the same as for the previous year.

During 2007-08, the average service contacted 28 per cent of its 13-19 youth population, the same as the previous year. The average participation rate was 17 per cent, above the 15 per cent benchmark.

(Source: England's Youth Service 2007-08, National Youth Agency, 2009).

In 2005/06, 15 of the 33 youth services inspected were judged good or outstanding, 11 were adequate, and seven inadequate. This is an improvement on 2004/05, where of the 31 services inspected, only six were judged to be good or outstanding. Youth services make the strongest contributions to the Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes 'making a positive contribution' and 'being healthy'.

(Source: Building on the best: overview of local authority youth services 2005/06, Office for Standards in Education, 2007).

In 2005, 360,000 children and young people aged between 6 and 25 were members of the Scout movement; the Guide movement had a combined membership of 477,000 for those aged 6 to 25; the Boys' Brigade and Girls' Brigade have memberships of 57,000 and 26,000 respectively for children and young people aged 5 to 19; the Clubs for Young People (CYP) organisation has a membership of around 400,000 young people; the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs has a membership of 21,000 young people aged between 10 and 26 years. In 2004, the YMCA had a membership of 85,000. In 2004/05, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme had over 138,000 new entrants.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 37, 2007).