Agenda item

To consider the changes proposed by Services for Young People to how Community Youth Work is delivered in Reigate & Banstead.  These changes are designed so that the Community Youth Work Service (CYWS) are able to deliver youth work in areas where there is the greatest need to support young people into employability.

The Local Committee (Reigate & Banstead) agreed:

(i)            The proposals set out in Table 3 in Section 3.1 as formal guidance for the Community Youth Work Service.

(ii)           50% of the borough wide offer will be defaulted to the Hub unless exceptional circumstances apply which will be agreed in conjunction with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Local Committee.

REASONS:

To enable the Community Youth Work Service (CYWS) to better support the Council’s strategic goal of employability for young people, and implement a County Council Cabinet steer to allocate more of our resources to the areas of greatest need, and respond positively to an overall funding reduction of 11% for Community Youth Work across Surrey.

Following the revision of proposals as set out in Table 2, to compensate for the reduction in hours for Merstham and Redhill.

Declarations of Interest: None

Officers Attending: Jeremy Crouch, Ciaran Cleasby, SCC Services for Young People

Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: One public question (see Appendix A).

Member Discussion – Key Points

Members were advised that there had been a 11% funding reduction for Community Youth Work in Surrey. An assessment of the level of need across the county had been undertaken and the proposals were based on a whole range of statistical data and information from partner organisations. A public consultation had been carried out (as outlined in section 4 of the report), and the initial proposals revised to take the feedback from the consultation into account.

It was noted that there was a lot of dissatisfaction in the Banstead area. The revised proposals would increase the youth work delivery at Banstead Youth Centre from the 3 hours per week originally proposed to 6 hours per week with a further 6 hours per week delivered by YMCA East Surrey (any preparation and planning would be done outside the 12 hours). A joint programme between the Banstead Youth Centre and the Phoenix Youth Centre will be developed and the Youth & Community Worker based at Phoenix Youth Centre will line manage Community Youth Work staff at Banstead Youth Centre. The new proposals were outlined in Table 3 of the report.  The criteria had not changed.

Members commented that the new strategy of delivering youth work in areas of greatest need had resulted in a greater proportion of the overall funding being allocated to Reigate and Banstead. Members commended the Youth Work Service for directing available resources to areas in the borough that need it the most.

Concerns were expressed that Merstham and Redhill would not be penalised as a result of the revised proposal and it was agreed that 50% of the borough wide offer will be defaulted to the Hub unless exceptional circumstances apply, which will be agreed in conjunction with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Local Committee.

Concerns were also expressed that previous issues that may have been addressed in a particular area do not reoccur, and that the best use was made of community resources such as buildings.

The Chairman requested a vote on the recommendation and the majority of Members agreed the proposals.

The Local Committee (Reigate & Banstead) agreed:

(i)            The proposals set out in Table 3 in Section 3.1 as formal guidance for the Community Youth Work Service.

(ii)           50% of the borough wide offer will be defaulted to the Hub unless exceptional circumstances apply which will be agreed in conjunction with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Local Committee.

Reasons:

To enable the Community Youth Work Service (CYWS) to better support the Council’s strategic goal of employability for young people, and implement a County Council Cabinet steer to allocate more of our resources to the areas of greatest need, and respond positively to an overall funding reduction of 11% for Community Youth Work across Surrey.

Following the revision of proposals as set out in Table 2, to compensate for the reduction in hours for Merstham and Redhill.

Mr Bob Gardner left the meeting at 1.30pm.