Agenda item

To update the Committee on the Youth Service developments.

a)    To accept the report that provided an update on the developments of the Youth Service.

b)   To ask the Cabinet Member for Education to consider the observations of the Committee about the importance of the Youth Service, ensuring that it will receive due attention under the Education Service after the Service soon transfers to this Department.

 

The report was submitted by the Youth Service Manager. An overview of the main points was also received, as well as the background of remodelling the Youth Service following the Cabinet's decisions back in 2018. The new model had been established in September 2018 and it was reported that the Service had been reporting on the progress of the remodelling and performance through the Performance Challenging process.  

 

It was noted that the Service had submitted a Progress Report on the first year of the remodelling to the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee in January 2020, but soon after the Covid restrictions had come into force. It was expressed that the report included information on the impact of the pandemic on the remodelling as well as the service's current situation. 

 

Reference was made to the current structure of the Youth Service, and it was added that the voice of young people was central to the Service. It was noted that the report referred to the feedback of young people about the Service, as well as what the Youth Service was doing in response to this feedback. 

 

It was reported that information could be seen in the report on the strategic themes of the Service, which focussed on Health and Well-being across all projects, the Welsh language, equality and inclusion. The work taking place with partners and third sector organisations to meet the needs of young people was highlighted. To close, reference was made to the challenges facing the Service in the future which had been included in the report such as recruitment and the complex and severe needs of young people which had emerged over the last few years. 

 

During the discussion, the following observations were submitted by members:- 

 

·           A comment was made that the youth clubs were currently being funded through the Community and Town Councils. Reference was made to the report which noted that the clubs that currently existed were successful, with a high number attending. It was noted that these were not new clubs, but rather old clubs that were being reopened by the Community and Town Councils after 4 years of being closed.  

·           It was believed that there were strengths to the new structure, but it was questioned whether it had been a failure in one element, considering the above. 

·           It was expressed that consistency and stability was important to young people and it was questioned whether there was room for the Council to reconsider its provision. It was added that providing space for the young people to feel safe and that they belonged was important and an enquiry was made about the Council's role in providing permanent stable clubs instead of supporting Community and Town Councils.  

·           The projects being offered by the Youth Service were welcomed, and it was noted that there were very successful projects in some areas. Advantage was taken of the opportunity to thank the Youth Workers within the Council who did excellent work and appreciation was expressed for this work. 

·           It was expressed that it would be nice to keep the new model, but also bring the old model of clubs back; although it was understood that this was difficult in terms of the financial situation. It was believed that the young people needed the stable provision of a club, but there was certainly a place to continue with the project element.  

·           Concern was expressed in terms of consistency across the County, and reference was made to the effort in the South of the County to seek to re-establish a club and recruit; however, unfortunately the efforts had failed, which meant that there was no provision in the South of the County. It was emphasised that consistency was important in the County, and it was asked about the link with Schools and whether it was consistent. 

·           Reference was made to the difficulties of engaging with children and young people to find out what exactly they needed. It was noted that the report referred to a figure of 5,500 of young people participating; a question was asked about the threshold of participation and what counted as participation. It was also asked what the figures were in terms of working closely with the young people to hear their views. 

·           It was believed that it was unfair that the Council did not do more in the rural communities and there was concern that these communities were losing out. It was reiterated that a service was needed in the rural communities, particularly considering that there were more provisions and things to do in the towns in any case, compared with rural communities or small villages. 

·           Advantage was taken of the opportunity to congratulate Llanrug Youth Club, which was going from strength to strength and a safe place for the young people of the village to go to.  

·           It was expressed that closing the Youth Clubs had been a step back, although they acknowledged that there had been a need for a change in direction at the time. 

·           It was asked how the Service was consulting with those who did not attend clubs.  

·           It was expressed that the Weekly Programme did not convey all the work that was being done by the Service. 

·           It was asked how many youth clubs had been open before the change in 2018.  

·           Concern was expressed about the substantial drop from 38 clubs in 2018 to 9 clubs by the beginning of 2023, and it was questioned whether the ability to engage with the young people had been lost, particularly those who did not engage much with the Schools.  

·           It was acknowledged that there were excellent and flexible elements to the new system. 

·           It was asked whether it was possible to ask all young people in the County whether they wanted a youth club in their area.  

·           It was questioned whether it was possible for the Council to have a greater influence over the use of the Welsh language at the clubs and activities. 

·           Gratitude was expressed for a comprehensive and full report.  

In response to the above-mentioned observations and questions from members, it was noted:- 

 

·       That the element of expanding the provision in the community was a positive development in order to reach a broad range of young people across the communities. It was noted that the Youth Service were looking at projects to correspond with this and listen to the voice of young people in terms of their needs. It was noted that there was an obvious need in the community and that the increase in the figures over the last two quarters reiterated this. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that it was important for the Council to be able to offer a service separately in order to ensure that every area across Gwynedd could obtain access to the Youth Service through projects and address all needs across the County.  

·       For clarity, it was confirmed that five community clubs were currently operational across the County, with another four putting their names forwards to open; therefore it was hoped that there would be nine operational clubs in the County by Christmas. It was noted that the figure of 24 in the report referred to the number of workers.  

·       That there had not been sufficient time to trial whether the joint community static clubs between the Council and Community Councils had been successful or not; more time was needed to assess this. It was added that there was a need for more time and effort to support the Community Councils that were trying to open local volunteer clubs and staff them, and that the Youth Service had now moved reserves to enable this. It was reported that it would be useful to receive feedback from the community councils that had been successful with the clubs, and those that had attempted to recommence but had failed. 

·       That the Council were trialling a different workforce to support the more socially natured clubs as there were recruitment challenges, therefore work was in the pipeline in an attempt to address this.  

·       That the Youth Service had sought to think of different ways to obtain a provision in areas such as Tywyn, e.g., commissioning a community cinema and funding it over Christmas so that there would be some kind of provision there for the young people.  

·       That Schools were working differently and relying on the voice and needs of young people in the Schools. The hope was that the work being done in the Schools was transitioning to the community and that further work was being done in the community.  

·       That participation meant anyone using the service more than once across a broad range of projects, from those where the service was intense to community clubs and fun days. A young person could attend or gain access to the Service once only, e.g., to have a chat and then feel that they had gained what they needed or a young person could return to a variety of projects; both cases would count as one engagement. It was explained that the measures were different between the old model and the new model; the Service was now trying to measure how many young people they reached and were trying to reach more young people and measure whether they were receiving what they wished.  

·       That transport was a greater challenge recently, compared with the pre-pandemic period. This meant that some areas had had to change their provision times.  

·       That the Service wanted to develop the element of engagement with young people who did not attend clubs, e.g., travel problems or no provision in their communities. It was reported that the Service was approaching Schools for feedback and had a Young People's Voice Board, which was very successful, and they were eager to receive more feedback and data about the young people who did not already engage. It was added that the Service was working closely with our Welfare Officers for the young people who did not engage at School. It was noted that engagement was also happening outside the School through clubs where needs could emerge themselves, then the Service could contact with the young people and work with them. It was explained that the voluntary element continued to be important and central to the Youth Service. 

·       In terms of engagement, it was noted that the Service was making use of social media and WhatsApp groups, which was a new digital way of engaging.  It was reiterated that this shift to digital means of communications had been driven by the young people. This means that the link existed digitally and then the Service attempted to encourage them to attend sessions.  

·       That there was a need to make the best of the resource available and seek to make this resource go as far as possible. There was a need to accept that there was a limit to what could be achieved due to budgetary issues.  

·       That the weekly programme was only one way to convey what the Service was doing, and it tended to focus on the social element in the evening instead of the activities taking place between 3:30-6:00pm. It was acknowledged that the weekly programme did not reflect everything that was on offer. It was added that young people did not have to be involved with the service, therefore, the demand varied and there were challenges in terms of staffing, funding and identifying locations or rooms to hire to hold activities. 

·       The starting point before arranging any community event would be to conduct a dialogue with the young people about what they wished to see in the area and being able to assess the need.  

·       At their peak, 74 youth clubs existed across the County before the restructuring, but they had deteriorated naturally in numbers by 2018. It was confirmed that 38 clubs were operational by 2018 and that was the number when they ended.  

·       That asking young people an open question about whether they wanted a club did not provide a realistic picture. Instead, it was felt that it would be better to ask more specific questions such as what you want or wish to see. It was added that many young people wanted trips as they had not had these opportunities since pre-Covid times. As a result, it was reported that the Service had been holding many trips, e.g., ten-pin bowling or shopping trips. It was reiterated that messages from the young people were being passed on to the Service and that a lot of emphasis had been placed on having fun and on the social element over the past year. 

·       That the provision being offered by the Youth Service was almost always through the medium of Welsh or certainly bilingually. The importance of giving the young an opportunity to use Welsh in a more informal way outside school was reiterated. It was noted that the service was working closely with Hunaniaith and the Urdd and was working closely with some Schools such as Friars to develop the Welsh-medium provision.  

 

In terms of Mental Health work, it was reported that this was one of the Youth Service's priorities, particularly the well-being element, and that there was a lot of collaboration with agencies such as CAMHS. It was acknowledged that mental health levels had increased over the past years. A report was provided on the well-being festival that had been held at the beginning of the year, which had been very popular and had received positive feedback. Reference was also made to the Meddwl Ymlaen Project, which had received funding for five years. The voices of young people would give structure to the project and much collaboration between various agencies would happen over the project period.  

 

Reference was made to the Youth Service's imminent move to the Education Department and concern was expressed, due to the Education Department's financial constraints and busy nature, that this important Service would become lost in the new Department. There was a wish to express to the Cabinet Member for Education that the Youth Service needed to be prioritised, ensuring that it would receive due attention under the Education Department. It was agreed to add this to the decision. 

 

There was a wish to express thanks to the Youth Service about the report and for Committee members for their questions.   

 

DECISION 

a.                  To accept the report that provided an update on the developments of the Youth Service. 

b.                  To ask the Cabinet Member for Education to consider the observations of the Committee about the importance of the Youth Service, ensuring that it will receive due attention under the Education Service after the Service soon transfers to this Department.