Increased support for Youth Services in re-organisation.

Reading Borough Council News Release

Increased Support for Young People

A re-organisation of Reading ’s Youth Services would see an increase in the number of professionals working with young people and more one-to-one support where families need it most.

Under the proposals going to a meeting of Reading Borough Council’s Cabinet on February 16, the number of one-to-one sessions offered by Council youth workers with young people in Reading would go up from 350 a year in 2011/12 to 385 a year in 2012/13.

And in a move aimed at ensuring youth services in Reading continue to focus on the most vulnerable, the plans would also see £138,000 in funding directed to the voluntary sector to play a bigger part in the delivery of youth work.

Youth services play an essential role in Reading and have two main aims; to discourage young people from drug and alcohol misuse, crime and anti-social behaviour and teenage pregnancy; and to encourage them to take up opportunities for education, employment and training. This is achieved by providing relevant activities, education, information, advice, guidance and the appropriate support young people need to achieve their full potential.

Last year the Council carried out a review of youth services, including asking young people in Reading what would work best for them. The review found that support for vulnerable young people is most effective in the context of wider family-focused project. It also found that personal one-to-one support is the most productive approach.

A report will now be going to Cabinet later this month which draws on the findings of that review by maintaining highly skilled and experienced youth workers and maximising capacity to work with the borough’s most vulnerable young people, including through one to one support.

At the moment a number of teams - Prevention and Support Service (PASS), Intensive Personal Advisors (IPAS) and Area Youth Work Teams - all provide services to vulnerable young people in Reading . Under the new proposals, support would be streamlined with one team of highly skilled and qualified youth workers based at each of the Children’s Action Teams (CATs) - Fairview Youth & Community Centre (West), Sun Street (East), Amersham Rd (North), and South Reading Youth Centre (South). This change alone would free up £250,000 worth of funding which could then be re-directed, including into voluntary sector.

Additional youth work delivered by the voluntary sector, which is expected to take 12 to 24 months to fully put in place, would be prioritised by levels of deprivation where it can really make a difference. Examples include where there are higher levels of young people Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), teenage pregnancy or youth offending. Young people will be fully engaged in this process to ensure the service delivered what they want and services which can make a difference in the areas in which they live.

Additional capacity in the voluntary sector also allows the youth service to build on some of the very successful partnerships that have made a difference to young people’s lives. Examples include KICKZ/ Youth Service projects and the developing partnership with Groundwork in Southcote.

Recent changes in national policy have shifted the delivery of some career education, advice and guidance from local authorities to schools. Reading Borough Council will deliver its contribution to these services through a new Berkshire-wide framework agreement from August 2012.

John Ennis, Reading’s Lead Councillor for Education and Children’s Services, said: “Youth services in Reading provide a lifeline for many young people who for a whole variety of reasons are struggling. These changes will ensure we focus on the people and the communities where these services will make the most difference to young people lives, and the lives of their families. It is yet another example of this Council finding better and more effective ways of delivering services.”