Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training

Transcription

1 Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January 2014 John Golding Engagement Lead T E john.golding@uk.gt.com Ginette Beal Performance Lead T E ginette.beal@uk.gt.com 2014 Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January 2014

2 The contents of this report relate only to the matters which have come to our attention, which we believe need to be reported to you as part of our review process. It is not a comprehensive record of all the relevant matters, which may be subject to change, and in particular we cannot be held responsible to you for reporting all of the risks which may affect the Council or any weaknesses in your internal controls. This report has been prepared solely for your benefit and should not be quoted in whole or in part without our prior written consent. We do not accept any responsibility for any loss occasioned to any third party acting, or refraining from acting on the basis of the content of this report, as this report was not prepared for, nor intended for, any other purpose Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

3 Contents Section 1. Introduction/Audit Focus 2. Executive Summary 3. Detailed Findings Appendices A. Supporting data/charts B. Case Studies 2014 Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

4 Introduction and Background Review Focus Background The Welsh Government has a long standing commitment to improve the opportunities for children and young people. This includes their education and training and ensuring that the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) aged is reduced. Therefore, preventing young people from becoming NEET is a priority for the Welsh Government and as a result local councils should be considering how they can prevent and improve the situation for young people in their locality. In October 2013 the Welsh Government launched the Youth engagement and progression framework, implementation plan. This framework set out a new approach to implementation and provided more detail on the role and responsibilities for those key agencies involved. Local councils who are able to reduce the number of NEETs should be able to achieve savings across a local economy. Research commissioned by the Audit Commission (Against the Odds, Audit Commission, July 2010) estimates that the average lifetime direct cost of a person NEET to the public sector is 56,500. The wider resource cost to the economy, including lost output, is around 104,300 per NEET individual. Although the public finance costs (and therefore potential savings) tend to fall to non-devolved services, there are potential savings in devolved areas, such as mental health, community safety and also savings by improving prevention and reducing the costs of re-educating young people in basic skills after they leave school. Objective The main aim of this review was to provide assurance on the effectiveness of governance and delivery of cross cutting policies, at local authority level and to identify areas for further improvement. Key Questions: With the agreement of the Wales Audit Office, this assessment was undertaken within the same framework as the review of NEETs being undertaken at other Local Authorities as part of a national study. The study addresses the following questions: Are there lessons for the Council to learn from efforts to secure better outcomes for young people who are, or are at risk of becoming, NEET? Does Ceredigion understand the need to improve outcomes for young people NEET or at risk of becoming NEET? Is Ceredigion planning sufficiently well to deliver effective local action? Does Ceredigion do enough to ensure provision of effective services to support young people NEET or at risk of coming NEET? 2014 Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January 2014

5 Executive Summary Overall conclusion The Council has a strong focus on prevention and for a number of years has been targeting resources at ensuring that the number of young people who are NEET at 16 is reduced. The NEET agenda is a priority for the Council and has demonstrated this by ensuring recurrent resources are available. We consider that current arrangements support improvement and the implementation of the recommendations within this report should enable the Council to continue to improve. Going forward the Council needs to build on its existing arrangements to work with partners to develop and support those who are NEET over the age of 18 and ensure that service provision delivers the most effective outcome for young people aged 16 to Does the Council understand the need to improve outcomes for young people at risk of becoming NEET? The Council has a clear and widely understood policy to reduce the proportion of young people who are NEET and at risk of becoming NEET. The Council has set out in its strategic documents reference and targets relating to NEETs, including its objective to have the lowest number in Wales. The Council is in the process of updating its strategy to reflect the Youth Engagement Progression Framework and the recommendations within this report. The Council has supported its commitment with recurrent funding. Outcomes for young people are improved through the multi-agency practitioners group, which is recognised by all partners as a valuable group and approach. The Council should build on its existing partnership arrangements to work with its partners, Career Wales and Job Centre Plus to ensure equal priority is given to young people over 19 and to enable tracking of individuals aged 19 to Is Ceredigion planning sufficiently well to deliver effective local action? Joint governance and planning arrangements within the Council are in place and are driving the NEETs agenda. Although we consider that these could be improved by including local employers in the strategic planning process, such as the LSB Executive Group. The Council has access to good information and data to inform its local action post 16, and 16 to 18. The Council recognises that it needs to work with Careers Wales and Job Centre Plus to access the information and data available for those aged 19 and over. 3. Does Ceredigion do enough to ensure provision of effective services to support young people NEET or at risk of becoming NEET? The Council has focused its resources on service provision which its considers will benefit young people who are NEET and at risk of becoming NEET. The services were introduced following the evaluation of the Engage Project and feedback from young people, but going forward the Council needs to ensure that its approach continues to have a positive impact and continues to reduces the numbers that are NEET at 16 and beyond. Recommendations The recommendations raised as part of this review are set out in in the detailed findings section Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January 2014

6 Detailed Findings Question Findings Conclusion and Recommendations 1. Does the Council understand the need to improve outcomes for young people at risk of becoming NEET? The Council has set out its strategy and commitment to reducing the proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training in its NEET strategy. This strategy was drafted in response to the Welsh Assembly Government's priority to reduce the proportion of young people in Wales who are NEET and clearly sets out Ceredigion's principle to adopt a preventative approach and to target early intervention to those young people most at risk of becoming NEET. The Council's NEET strategy is comprehensive but at the time of our detailed fieldwork required updating to reflect the Welsh Government requirements within the Youth Engagement Progression Framework. The Council has started this process and also begun to reflect the recommendations within this report. The Council's policy and approach to reduce the proportion of young people who are NEET is widely understood by officers and Members and this was demonstrated through interviews and review of documentation. The Council's strategic documents; Single Integrated Plan, Corporate Strategy and Improvement Plan all include reference or targets for reducing the number of young people who are NEET. The Single Integrated Plan identifies the following priority 'Ensure that local people have the full range of skills needed to access employment; in particular, develop non-graduate specialisms that may enable young people to develop their skills and enterprise in the local area; engage with children who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET'. The Council's improvement objective to 'Promote and develop economic renewal across the County' includes monitoring of those young people who are recorded as NEET. Within the Corporate Strategy the Council has identified what the expected outcome would look like if they were successful 'the number of NEETs will be the lowest in Wales'. The latest published data by Statistics for Wales states that for 2012 Ceredigion had only 2.3 per cent of year 11 school leavers known to be NEET, almost the lowest in Wales, as the range varied from 2.2 to 6.7. Appendix A shows the Council's performance over time and in comparison to other Authorities. The Council is also able to demonstrate a reduction in the youth justice crime rate and a reduction in the school exclusion rates. The Council has a clear and widely understood policy to reduce the proportion of young people who are NEET and at risk of becoming NEET. The Council has set out in its strategic documents reference and targets relating to NEETs, including its objective to have the lowest number in Wales. The Council has supported its commitment with recurrent funding. Outcomes for young people are improved through the multi-agency practitioners group, which is recognised by all partners as a valuable group and approach. Recommendation The Council should update its NEET Strategy in line with the Youth Engagement Progression Framework and the recommendations within this report Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

7 Detailed Findings Question Findings Conclusion and Recommendations 1. Does the Council understand the need to improve outcomes for young people at risk of becoming NEET? (Continued) The Council has agreed and provided recurrent mainstream funding of 300,000 per year to both maintain elements of the work began under the Engage Project, but also to fill gaps in service provision. This funding was agreed by Cabinet following a detailed presentation to both Cabinet and Scrutiny. This presentation and report made Cabinet and Scrutiny aware of the DfES financial cost of being NEET over the lifetime of an individual. The Council has not considered the specific cost and social implication for Ceredigion. However, we recognise that the identification of mainstream funding clearly demonstrates Ceredigion's commitment to continue to improve the outcomes for its young people. The Council has a well established multi-agency NEET practitioners group, which has been operating since The partners and attendees of the group have agreed and signed up to a shared information protocol to enable the group to discuss and support individual young people. It covers the exchange of information between education and community services, social services, youth offending, the housing sector, training providers and the voluntary sector together with Careers Wales. The meetings are held monthly and are facilitated by a co-ordinator. The agenda for the meeting separately addresses those young people under 16 and those post 16 up to age 18. This ensures effective use of participants time. The multi-agency meetings enable discussions of individual young people and appropriate action to be agreed, such as outreach visits to engage an individual. Appendix B provides further detail on the Multi-agency practitioners group. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were members of the group but have stopped attending since the introduction of the data sharing protocol. We understand that the DWP is unable to agree to the Welsh data sharing protocol and that this is a national restriction. This restricts the group's ability to support and track young people post 19 years of age. Recommendation The Council should evaluate the economic cost and social impact of a young person (aged 16 to 24) being NEET in Ceredigion. Recommendation The Council should work with its partners, such as Career Wales and Job Centre Plus to ensure equal priority is given to young people over 19 and to enable tracking of individuals aged 19 to Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

8 Detailed Findings Question Findings Conclusion and Recommendations 1. Does the Council understand the need to improve outcomes for young people at risk of becoming NEET? (Continued) 2. Is Ceredigion planning sufficiently well to deliver effective local action? Technological developments such as social media are available to councils for them to improve and enhance their communication links with young people. Ceredigion does use social media to engage with the public. The Youth Service uses social media to engage with young people but it is not specifically used as a mechanism to assist with learning or to liaise with young people who are NEET or at risk of being NEET. Governance and planning processes are in place at both a strategic and operational level, through the Local Service Board (LSB), the Children and Young People Executive Group and the NEETs Management Group. The LSB Executive Group and the NEETs Management Group includes other agencies and partners but does not include any local employers. We consider that including local employers would be beneficial to the planning process. In order to ensure the Council's governance and performance management arrangements are effective the Council has reviewed and redefined the role and responsibilities of the Executive Groups. These arrangements need to be fully established before their effectiveness can be assessed and evaluated. It is through this governance structures that partner organisations are held to account. Recommendation The Council should consider how it could maximise and take advantage of technology, such as social media to enhance communication and liaison with young people. Joint governance and planning arrangements within the Council are in place and are driving the NEETs agenda. Although we consider that these could be improved by including local employers and higher education providers. The Council has access to good information and data to inform its local action post 16 and 16 to 18. Recommendation The Council should consider how it could involve local employers in strategic planning, the LSB Executive Group and possibly the NEET management group Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

9 Detailed Findings Question Findings Conclusion and Recommendations 2. Is Ceredigion planning sufficiently well to deliver effective local action? (Continued) The Council's business planning process requires that annual business plans are prepared at both strategic level and operational level. At a strategic level the objective to reduce NEETs is included within the Department of Education and Community Services' Annual Business Plan and operationally in the NEET Management Group Operational Plan. Performance against priorities and objectives within these plans are reported to the LSB CYP Executive Group, we consider that these arrangements could be improved by improving the timeliness of the reporting. Although we are aware that the delay in reporting is as a result of availability of the information and the timing of the meetings. The Council has access to good information to inform its plans and strategies. This information enables it to understand the local NEETs profile, identify at risk individuals and agree specific action for individual young people. As noted earlier, information and data for young people under 16 and those aged 16 to 18 is discussed and shared between partners. The Council recognises that it needs to begin to work with partners to address those aged 19+. The Council's information system 'Teacher Centre' enables early identification of secondary school children, years 9 to 11 to assess who might be at risk of becoming NEET. The system uses a number of indicators such as school attendance levels and Special Education Needs to RAG rate individual pupils. Those identified as high risk are then reviewed and assessed with schools to understand if specific action is required. This analysis is undertaken annually. Further details are included in case study 2, see appendix B. Recommendation The Council should consider how the timeliness of performance reporting to the LSB Executive Group could be improved. As per page 7 The Council should work with its partners, such as Career Wales and Job Centre Plus to ensure equal priority is given to young people over 19 and to enable tracking of individuals aged 19 to Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

10 Detailed Findings Question Findings Conclusion and Recommendations 3. Does Ceredigion do enough to ensure provision of effective services to support young people NEET or at risk of becoming NEET? The Council's has a range of services available to support young people who are NEET or at risk of being NEET. Following the closure of the Engage Project, which was independently evaluated, local services have changed to both fill gaps and to continue with what worked well. The following services are available to support young people who are at risk of becoming NEET: Youth Service workers in schools Outreach services to engage with young people across the County Work Related Learning (WRL) Officer Behaviour/attendance support workers and Employment Training Advisor within the Youth Justice Service. In addition the Council has focused on ensuring pupils remain within school and through behaviour support and the School Inclusion Officer the number of permanent exclusions continues to reduce, see Appendix A. Work within and with schools is a strong focus for the Council and good links are established between schools and children's social services. The Council will annually consult young people and in 2013 consulted young people on the alternative curriculum. Young people were also consulted as part of the evaluation of the Engage Project. In addition the Council should consider how it evaluates and understands its approach and ensures that its current service provision is effective. Going forward the Council needs to ensure that its approach continues to have a positive impact for young people leaving school at 16 but also reduces the numbers that are NEET post 16 and 19. This evaluation should consider both the individual elements of the service provision as well as the approach as a whole. The multi-agency practitioners groups provides the mechanisms for the Council along with its partners to meet and discuss those young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET for those under 16 and those aged 16 to 19. As a result 100% of the young people aged 16 to 19 in Ceredigion who are know to be NEET have a key worker. The Council has focused its resources on service provision which it considers will benefit young people who are NEET and at risk of becoming NEET. The services were introduced following the evaluation of the Engage project and feedback from young people, but going forward the Council needs to ensure that its approach continues to have a positive impact and continues to reduce the numbers that are NEET at 16 and beyond. Recommendation The Council along with its partners should continue to evaluate its approach to ensure its service provision continues to have a positive impact and reduces the numbers that are NEET at 16 and beyond Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

11 Detailed Findings Question Findings Conclusion and Recommendations 3. Does Ceredigion do enough to ensure provision of effective services to support young people NEET or at risk of becoming NEET? (Continued) The Council approach is to work with individual young people and to offer work based learning and vocational solutions to meet their needs. It is able to offer a vocational/alternative curriculum for pupils at key stage 4, and is currently reviewing what is delivered to ensure it meets the need of vulnerable young people. In addition work related learning is one area where the Council recognises that the scope and availability of placements could be improved. As a result they have developed a work related learning policy and it is the responsibility of the WRL Officer to identify and extend the availability of WRL opportunities. Individual pupils are referred to the WRL Officer, who will then have a one to one session with the young person to establish their needs and to discuss what would be suitable. In addition to ensure all pupils have access to the alternative curriculum and work related learning the Council has ensured that resources are available to fund transport Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

12 Appendix A supporting data/charts Percentage of year 11 (16 years olds) known not to be in education, employment or training Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January 2014

13 Appendix A supporting data/charts Number of youth offenders (per cent of population aged 10 to 17) for Ceredigion from the year 2008/09 to 2011/12 The Average Number of School Days lost to fixed term exclusion (Primary and Secondary) 2014 Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January 2014

14 Appendix B case studies Case Study 1. Multi-agency NEET Practitioners and Information Sharing Protocol Findings Ceredigion has a multi-agency NEET practitioners group which meets every month, including the following partner organisations: Ceredigion County Council - Education & Community Services - Social Services Department - Youth Offending Service Area 43 Project Tai Cantref Rathbone Training Careers Wales Coleg Ceredigion These agencies agreed in February 2013 a shared information protocol to enable the group to discuss and support individual young people. The meetings are held monthly and are facilitated by a co-ordinator. The agenda for the meeting separately addresses those young people under 16 and those post 16 up to age 18. This ensures effective use of participants time. The multi-agency meetings enable discussion of individual young people and appropriate action to be agreed, such as outreach visits to engage an individual. All partners who Grant Thornton spoke to as part of this review considered the group to be effective and enabled those young people who are NEET and at risk of becoming NEET to be assessed and supported to improve the outcomes for individual young people. 2. Early identification of young people at risk of becoming NEET. The Council's information system 'Teacher Centre' enables early identification of secondary school children, years 9 to 11 (key stage 4) to assess who might be at risk of becoming NEET. The system uses a number of indicators such as school attendance levels, Special Education Needs, looked after pupils and eligibility to free school meals to traffic light (red, amber or green rate) individual pupils. All pupils in key stage 4 are assessed annually and the RAG ratings are shared with schools including the pupil referral units in March and April annually. Those identified as high risk are then reviewed and assessed with schools to understand if specific action is required and may also result in discussions at the multiagency NEET practitioners group. The system is used as an indicator and specific action is only taken following agreement with the schools and any other professionals involved Grant Thornton UK LLP Ceredigion County Council Review of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training January

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