The Strategic Director of Place will submit Document “S” which informs the Area Committee of the progress made in relation to the establishment of the new Youth Offer across the Bradford District and specifically in the Shipley area.  

Recommended –

That the Committee:

(1)  Notes the achievements of the Youth Offer Working Group and the Youth Sector as a whole, as outlined in the Action Plan (Appendix A of Document “S”) and receives a further update in respect of this work in 12 months time.

(2)  Considers and comments on the shared direction of travel and the continued commitment from the Youth Sector to work together and to do things differently.

(3)  Notes the work already undertaken around Youth Voice and commits to formalising Youth Voice arrangements in respect of the ShipleyArea Committee work plan for 2017-18.

(Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

(Carys Bose – 01274 437146)

The Strategic Director of Place submitted Document “S” which informed the Area Committee of the progress made in relation to the establishment of the new Youth Offer across the Bradford District and specifically in the Shipley area.  

The District’s Youth Commissioner, the Advanced Practitioner for the Shipley area, a representative from Emerge and a representative from the National Citizenship Programme were in attendance at the meeting.  The Advanced Practitioner provided a presentation of the work being undertaken, as detailed in the report.

The representative from Emerge addressed the Committee to explain the detached youth work he undertook.  This included forestry work with young people, speaking to young people on the streets and work to tackle anti social behaviour.  He highlighted the communication that took place across the youth hub network in dealing with some of the more challenging behaviour.

The Advanced Practitioner informed Members that the service had received 12 referrals from the CSE hub, 19 early help referrals and 59 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services  (CAMHS) referrals.  She stated  that a good relationship with the Police had been developed and Police officers attended sessions to talk to young people as well as undertaking a range of projects offering targeted youth provision.  New and innovative ways to engage with young people were being explored.

The Youth Commissioner explained the local authorities’ obligation to support the National Citizenship Programme.  It was confirmed that during Summer 2017 over 1,200  young people had taken part in that programme, 11%  of which were from the Shipley Constituency.  15% of participants were those eligible for free school meals and a fairly even balance of gender was recorded.  The National Citizenship Programme representative went on to tell Members about the confidence building work that had taken place with young people.  She invited Members to attend sessions that were being held as part of the programme over Summer 2018.

The representative from the National Citizenship Programme spoke of the work undertaken with Shipley College and Bingley Grammar School (which had been nominated for a Telegraph and Argus Bradford School’s Award for Voluntary Contribution).  She looked forward to working with officers across the Council to ensure that young people were sign posted to other opportunities across the District, helping to engage them in activities within their communities beyond the lifetime of the programme.

The Chair thanked the officers for their presentation and agreed that encouraging young people to be advocates for their communities following their time on the National Citizenship Programme was a positive move.  He requested information on the Summer programme for 2018 be sent to Members and SCAPAG Members via the Advanced Practitioner.  He considered there were better working arrangements in place, breaking down the silo mentality that previously existed which enabled better value for money.

During the presentation, the Advanced Practitioner had alluded to a consultation undertaken with young people engaged with the service.  The Chair requested that feedback from this consultation be shared with Members in order to assist them in considering how to increase their interactions with young people in future.

A Member stated that she had been unaware of some of the work that had been taking place in her ward (Windhill and Wrose) and commented on the need for better communication going forward.  It was agreed that the Advanced Practitioner and Shipley Area Co-ordinator would look into the best way forward on this matter so that Members were kept informed of youth service work in their wards.

In response to Members’ questions, it was reported that:

·         The Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee received a report on Youth Service work annually and the Youth Officer bi-annually.

·         The Baildon Youth session had recently had to close on a Monday evening due to staff absence and a lack of resources to cover the sessions.  This was an area where the service wanted to increase volunteering in order to avoid situations like this in future.

·         The 12-week plan, January-March 2018, had not yet been finalised; a request for intergenerational work in Baildon was noted.

·         Schools now directly held a licence for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and took a lead on this.  The Council did not hold a licence.

·         The report highlighted some, not all, of the work undertaken within the constituency; information, support and guidance work was delivered in the Baildon area, however, it was not detailed in the report.

·         The Take Over Challenge was delivered in areas where young people had expressed an interest; it was not delivered in every ward of the Shipley Constituency; it ran annually in November.

·         A partnership meeting of agencies working with young people in Baildon was held in November.  The delivery of archery sessions in Baildon during 2018 was being explored.

·         Officers had been in discussions with the Police in relation to anti-social behaviour of young people in the Wrose, Idle and Eccleshill areas; a pilot programme led by The Springfield Centre in Idle was due to be introduced to help tackle this issue.

A Member thanked officers for the work undertaken in relation to Duke of Edinburgh sessions for young people in the Wharfedale Ward.

It was reported that Ward Partnership meetings would pick up on issues resulting from the loss of youth service sessions in Cottingley.

Resolved –

That the Committee:

(1)       Notes the achievements of the Youth Offer Working Group and the Youth Sector as a whole, as outlined in the Action Plan (Appendix A of Document “S”) and receives a further update in respect of this work in 12 months time.

(2)       Notes the work already undertaken around Youth Voice and commits to formalising Youth Voice arrangements in respect of the ShipleyArea Committee work plan for 2017-18.

(3)       Thanks the Youth Service and partners for their on-going work in helping our younger generation in the Shipley Constituency and thanks all the young people that contribute to our communities.

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE: Children’s Services

ACTION: Strategic Director, Place