Last Thursday was definitely a big day in the fight against the youth service cuts!
I was honoured to be asked to chair a meeting with none other than Councillor Ray Gooding himself, the man with the ultimate responsibility of deciding what stays and goes in the youth service. Ray, whose official title is the Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, joined Michael O'Brien, and some fifteen young people from across Essex in the session. Representatives of young people came from youth councils in Chelmsford, Basildon and Colchester, as well as from the National Citizen Service and Prince's Trust.
The aim was for young people to voice their concerns and fears about the result of the cuts straight to Ray. (We've discussed the flaws of the consultation and the worries that it won't pass across young people's views properly, so being able to express our feelings directly to him rather than through the questionaire is understandably important.) At the same time, young people would be able to get answers immediately and get a better understanding of the process.
Ray deserves a lot of credit for answering the questions very honestly and very positively. He stressed that he was relying on our feedback, both through the
consultation and through direct meetings such as this, to inform his
choice. Further, when he didn't know something, he was very honest about it and was fully prepared to look into it.
But I couldn't help but feel, however, that in some cases, there were things that Ray just couldn't answer - things that really needed answering.
One of the most poignant questions was about the provision of mental health support. A friend of mine from the YMCA told Ray very earnestly that the support she had received from youth workers was invaluable, and that she couldn't have got the same support from elsewhere.
Ray pointed out that parallel schemes existed, such as CAMHS (the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) but the response was clear: CAMHS, schools, parents - no one could provide the same kind of rounded and, importantly, judgement-free support that came from youth workers.
It's a story I've heard many times over from other young people, and you won't find it hard to find a young person who thinks the same. You can substitute 'mental heath' with nearly anything - drugs, drink, crime, bullying, housing, sexual health, unemployment; the youth service has changed and saved lives because it understands and works with teenagers in a way that no other organisation can.
When questioned, Ray defended the quality of the voluntary and private sectors as alternative providers of youth support. Certainly, there are organisations out there that do great good. For example, the Essex Boys and Girls clubs provide several social hubs and adventure activities. But we cannot expect these charities or companies to be of universal quality throughout Essex. We can't even expect them to reliably be in every town, or to provide youth buses to get out to young people living in the county's rural areas.
Whereas now you can expect to find a youth hub in every town in Essex, or a youth bus going out during the week, what would happen if these services and facilities were cut back?
Duke of Edinburgh would be restricted only to schools that provide it. Drop-in advice centres would only be available during school hours and would be dependent on the quality of local schools (and would be completely inaccessible to young people outside of the school system). And without impartial careers advice or the Prince's Trust, young people who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) would face incredible difficulties getting their lives in order.
Looking deeper
The most powerful questions were those regarding how the youth service would be able to function with such drastic cuts in the number of workers. For these, Ray had no convincing answer. This is worrying because while we fully understand and appreciate that no decisions have been made yet, it appears that there is no consideration of possible structures of the youth service in future.
The scariest part of this is that, following the end of the consultation, the time taken to make the decision over what will and won't be cut will last just over four weeks. The reason for this? If redundancies are made through the cuts, then these will come into effect at the end of March, which is the end of the financial year for Essex County Council; since workers must have three months' notice before they are laid off, the choice of who stays and goes must be made, at the latest, in mid-December so the messages can be circulated in time.
I do not envy Ray's position of having to make cuts in all the areas he is responsible for. After all, as Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, his duties extend into adminstrating schools, adult community learning, and several other areas as well as the youth service.
But because he will have to make cuts in all these areas, we can be sure that he will have to divide his time and his focus between all of them.
The future of the youth service, for years to come, will be based on a decision that has been made in a matter of days.
I do not mean to suggest that Ray will put any less time into the decision than he can afford to. The fact that he made time to get into contact with young people, and is continuing to do so throughout the county, shows that he is paying strong attention to the issue. But the fact is that the time allotted to make the final decision is simply not enough; and to add insult to injury, he will be making that decision based on a consultation that has been rushed through the drafting procedure and been given to the public for a paltry six-week period.
The fate of the Essex Youth Service is a decision that is being hurried on every level. When you are dealing with the future of a whole service and, more importantly, the futures of young people, you cannot afford to make such a vast and critical decision in a process that takes less than three months.
Final thoughts
There are two final points I would like to make. The first is that the link to a petition to save the youth service has been provided at the bottom of the page, which I would extremely appreciate if you could sign.
The second is a point raised by Ray's answer to one question - asking why, if the County Council must make 10% cuts overall, the youth service is facing 60% cuts. Ray replied that this is because some services are statutory - that is, requried by law - whilst others, such as the youth service, are not. Though this does not justify such a huge margin being taken out of our budget, it does provide inspiration for further action.
I would strongly encourage anyone reading this blog to write to their local MP and lobby them to introduce a bill that would make youth services a statutory provision of councils in the UK. Because at the end of the day, it's not just Essex Youth Services at risk. This problem is nationwide.
Sign the petition:
http://cmis.essexcc.gov.uk/essexcmis5/Petitions/tabid/106/ID/36/Save-our-youth-service.aspx
One of the most poignant questions was about the provision of mental health support. A friend of mine from the YMCA told Ray very earnestly that the support she had received from youth workers was invaluable, and that she couldn't have got the same support from elsewhere.
Ray pointed out that parallel schemes existed, such as CAMHS (the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) but the response was clear: CAMHS, schools, parents - no one could provide the same kind of rounded and, importantly, judgement-free support that came from youth workers.
It's a story I've heard many times over from other young people, and you won't find it hard to find a young person who thinks the same. You can substitute 'mental heath' with nearly anything - drugs, drink, crime, bullying, housing, sexual health, unemployment; the youth service has changed and saved lives because it understands and works with teenagers in a way that no other organisation can.
When questioned, Ray defended the quality of the voluntary and private sectors as alternative providers of youth support. Certainly, there are organisations out there that do great good. For example, the Essex Boys and Girls clubs provide several social hubs and adventure activities. But we cannot expect these charities or companies to be of universal quality throughout Essex. We can't even expect them to reliably be in every town, or to provide youth buses to get out to young people living in the county's rural areas.
Whereas now you can expect to find a youth hub in every town in Essex, or a youth bus going out during the week, what would happen if these services and facilities were cut back?
Duke of Edinburgh would be restricted only to schools that provide it. Drop-in advice centres would only be available during school hours and would be dependent on the quality of local schools (and would be completely inaccessible to young people outside of the school system). And without impartial careers advice or the Prince's Trust, young people who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) would face incredible difficulties getting their lives in order.
Cllr Ray Gooding, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning [Source]
Looking deeper
The most powerful questions were those regarding how the youth service would be able to function with such drastic cuts in the number of workers. For these, Ray had no convincing answer. This is worrying because while we fully understand and appreciate that no decisions have been made yet, it appears that there is no consideration of possible structures of the youth service in future.
The scariest part of this is that, following the end of the consultation, the time taken to make the decision over what will and won't be cut will last just over four weeks. The reason for this? If redundancies are made through the cuts, then these will come into effect at the end of March, which is the end of the financial year for Essex County Council; since workers must have three months' notice before they are laid off, the choice of who stays and goes must be made, at the latest, in mid-December so the messages can be circulated in time.
I do not envy Ray's position of having to make cuts in all the areas he is responsible for. After all, as Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, his duties extend into adminstrating schools, adult community learning, and several other areas as well as the youth service.
But because he will have to make cuts in all these areas, we can be sure that he will have to divide his time and his focus between all of them.
The future of the youth service, for years to come, will be based on a decision that has been made in a matter of days.
I do not mean to suggest that Ray will put any less time into the decision than he can afford to. The fact that he made time to get into contact with young people, and is continuing to do so throughout the county, shows that he is paying strong attention to the issue. But the fact is that the time allotted to make the final decision is simply not enough; and to add insult to injury, he will be making that decision based on a consultation that has been rushed through the drafting procedure and been given to the public for a paltry six-week period.
The fate of the Essex Youth Service is a decision that is being hurried on every level. When you are dealing with the future of a whole service and, more importantly, the futures of young people, you cannot afford to make such a vast and critical decision in a process that takes less than three months.
Final thoughts
There are two final points I would like to make. The first is that the link to a petition to save the youth service has been provided at the bottom of the page, which I would extremely appreciate if you could sign.
The second is a point raised by Ray's answer to one question - asking why, if the County Council must make 10% cuts overall, the youth service is facing 60% cuts. Ray replied that this is because some services are statutory - that is, requried by law - whilst others, such as the youth service, are not. Though this does not justify such a huge margin being taken out of our budget, it does provide inspiration for further action.
I would strongly encourage anyone reading this blog to write to their local MP and lobby them to introduce a bill that would make youth services a statutory provision of councils in the UK. Because at the end of the day, it's not just Essex Youth Services at risk. This problem is nationwide.
Sign the petition:
http://cmis.essexcc.gov.uk/essexcmis5/Petitions/tabid/106/ID/36/Save-our-youth-service.aspx
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