Youth Service Provision

Rob Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Civil Society (Mr Rob Wilson)]

With your toleration, Mr Davies, may I begin in a slightly unusual way by congratulating the hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) on her recent news that she will be adding to the youth of the nation? I hope that she will be declaring a personal interest from now on. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) on securing an important debate and I thank all hon. Members who have contributed. It has been a useful airing of views.

My first response to the debate is that I know these have been tough times. On today of all days, I recognise that the funding situation remains tight across the public sector, even though this Government have successfully cut the deficit in half. Local councils have had some difficult decisions to make across all the services that they provide and this has had a knock-on effect on wider youth services. Having said that, I was slightly concerned during some contributions, because we should always remember to talk about young people in a positive way. We should be emphasising strengths among our young people, not negatives.

I was pleased to hear my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) say that 20 centres are being established in his area and that those are doing things in a different, but very positive, way. The hon. Member for Stockton North mentioned some positive things that Stockton council is doing. I congratulate it on raising attendance at some of its centres and on its engagement in the youth services area.

I was sorry to hear that the council in the constituency of the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green), who has had to leave, is taking the option of abandoning youth centres, but at the end of the day that is a choice, not a necessity.

[Alex Cunningham]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Wilson]

I will make some progress and then I will come back to the hon. Gentleman.

I have been Minister for Civil Society for just over two months and have seen the important and difficult work done by youth workers and so many others with young people. These individuals are making a vital contribution to realising the Government’s ambition to ensure that all young people have the opportunities needed to fulfil their potential—an ambition I am sure we all agree with.

Only last month on a visit to Stockton, I met Five Lamps, an organisation in the constituency neighbouring the hon. Gentleman’s. This award-winning social enterprise is working with young people in the town. Five Lamps works with nearly 25,000 people every year through programmes including youth services and work with those who are not in education, employment or training. It was inspiring to see how it transforms lives and raises aspirations in Stockton. Five Lamps is a fine example of the type of support that is available at the local level, and hon. Members would do well to commend such work in their own constituencies. I am a huge supporter of these types of local services. I am also committed to bringing national and local government together, along with civil society and businesses, to give young people the best possible opportunities to succeed, and I will set out the Government’s current work to achieve this.

At local level, this Government have retained the existing statutory duty for local authorities, which requires that they secure, as far as is practicable, sufficient services and activities to improve the well-being of young people, as outlined in section 507B of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Not only did we retain the duty, but we updated the guidance on it in June 2012.

Hon. Members will have seen early-day motion 488, tabled by a Labour Member—some have mentioned it —in favour of a statutory funded service with ring-fenced funding from central Government. I have considered the issues, but do not support the EDM. I believe that effective local youth services are already supported by the existing statutory duty. I also believe that local authorities should be empowered to decide how to secure services that meet the needs of young people in their communities with the resources available to them. It cannot be the role of central Government to dictate to them what services to deliver or to ring-fence funding for this purpose. I am not clear from comments by the shadow Minister whether Labour now proposes to ring-fence these budgets.

[Julie Hilling]

I do not understand why we bother to legislate in this place if we are not going to ensure that local authorities or other bodies carry out the measures in legislation that we introduce.

[Mr Wilson]

The hon. Lady has to recognise that the principles of localism cannot simply be overridden the first time anyone disagrees with a decision that is made. If we are serious about localism—I am—we have to trust and respect local choices, and if necessary provide support to encourage new ways of thinking about how services are delivered.

[Alex Cunningham]

rose—

[Mr Wilson]

I will make a bit more progress, if I may.

I support transformational change that results in services that are more responsive to the needs of people using them and more efficient and resilient. We know that innovation is possible and that there are new models for delivering youth services that get the most out of the best of the voluntary and private sectors. Gloucestershire county council is one example. Its targeted youth support service is now provided through a partnership between a private sector organisation, Prospects, and the county council. It works with nearly 6,000 vulnerable young people in the county, more than 90% of whom say it has made a difference to their lives. Nationally, the Government want to provide practical support so that others can follow its lead. Through the “Delivering Differently for Young People” programme, we are supporting 10 local authorities to do so and to explore new models of delivery. I heard what the hon. Member for Stockton North said about his own local authority and its initiatives and I will look at those more closely.

If the hon. Gentleman would like an example of what is possible in his region, he could look north to North Tyneside, one of the councils we are supporting through the “Delivering Differently for Young People” programme. Its vision is to deliver joined-up services for young people that bring the public and voluntary sectors together to make the most of skills, buildings and resources. At every step, this will involve young people and will focus on tackling the needs of young people in a way that is co-ordinated and comprehensive. We will provide short-term specialist support to plan how they implement this vision. Gloucestershire and North Tyneside councils are just two of many positive examples of how councils are looking for new and creative opportunities to bring people together, create partnerships and look at new funding streams.

To answer the hon. Gentleman’s question, my officials are working closely with the Local Government Association, which is a co-sponsor of the “Delivering Differently for Young People” programme.

[Alex Cunningham]

The Minister is giving examples of good practice. We all love such examples and we know it is happening in parts of the country, but in other parts of the country the service is disappearing—we have heard an example today—so what is he going to do about that?

[Mr Wilson]

At a national level, the Government are going further. We are supporting leading youth organisations to develop the centre for youth impact. For the first time in this country there will be a central point for information, guidance and bespoke support, to demonstrate the value of youth services to others, particularly those who make funding decisions—something a Labour Government never did. Again, to answer another of the hon. Gentleman’s questions, the Cabinet Office did a survey of youth services in November 2013, which has informed the actions that I am talking about today.

Moving away from local youth services, I know that the hon. Gentleman has a particular interest in engaging young people in the democratic process. I share his commitment and will speak about the Government’s work in this area. Last month I had the privilege of speaking to the UK Youth Parliament and saw young people at their best: informed, articulate and passionate. They debated with eloquence and conviction about issues that matter to them, such as mental health and a living wage for all. We must make sure this same powerful voice shapes the services they use, locally and nationally. Engaging and listening is a way of ensuring our policies and services meet their actual needs. The Government are also ensuring social action opportunities exist outside school and college for young people to develop the skills and confidence they require to transition into adulthood.

Unfortunately, I am not going to make it to the end of my speech, so I will leave it there, Mr. Davies.

[Philip Davies (in the Chair)]

We come to the next debate, which is on Government strategy for the UK steel industry.