Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru | National Assembly for Wales
Y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg | Children, Young People and Education Committee
Blaenoriaethau ar gyfer y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg | Priorities for the Children, Young People and Education Committee
CYPE 19
Ymateb gan : Cyngor Cymreig y Gwasanaethau Ieuenctid Gwirfoddol (CWVYS)
Response from : Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services (CWVYS)
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Question 2 – From the list of priorities or issues you have identified, what do you consider to be the key areas that should be considered during the next 12 months (please identify up to three areas or issues)? Please outline why these should be considered as key priorities. |
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· Policy in relation to long-term support of youth work
Why? It is to be hoped that the much-needed and hugely-welcomed Youth Work Inquiry will highlight the real need for young people to be in receipt of world-class youth services. Underpinning that is the need to ensure the basic survival and support for the existing services on offer. Then, to build upon those foundations of simultaneously available open access and targeted youth work provision with a planned execution of clear, concise and tangibly meaningful plans over a defined period of time. This will take resource, all parts of the sector pulling in one direction and the leadership from within the Welsh Government.
An opportunity exists: to create a National Youth Service in order to provide improved more efficient and cost-effective services for young people. The answer is to fully address the inefficiencies and lack of cohesive delivery and to deliver better outcomes for all young people in Wales – effected by the ‘reclaiming’ of Revenue Settlement Grant monies allocated for youth services by Welsh Government and to ‘start again’.
There has never been a better, or more pressing time, to instigate this urgent programme of work.
· The contribution of youth work in Wales and its inherent values-base of non-formal and informal education interventions in support of young peoples’ experiences in formal education sectors.
Why? In order for any notion of joined-up ‘working relationships’ to succeed, both strategically and operationally, the non-formal and informal basis upon which youth work is founded needs to be actively promoted positively, and ultimately adopted, amongst formal education colleagues and institutions.
This is not for the sake of the youth work sector; more to make provision for young people for whom youth work interventions in a formal education setting can (and do benefit) from the support and challenge offered via the voluntary engagement principle that anchors good youth work practice.
· Strategies for workforce development opportunities in the youth work sector Why? The loss of cross-sector Workforce Development groups (apparently for reasons of capacity/cost) has resulted in general confusion amongst the sector as whole, with no formal approach to strategic needs or and a less clear understanding of a) what is going on ‘out there’ and b) less scrutiny on workforce development spend c) opportunities for cross-sectoral partnerships to flourish and d) a situation whereby the Education Workforce Council, for example, has had to consult with the various strands of the sector, instead of being able to consult with one group.
There is a need to invest in a new, collaborative approach and to provide the sector with the means and trust to deliver a sector-led workforce development model for Wales. This is achieved readily in Scotland, where the Scottish Government grants YouthLink Scotland £500k per annum with which to address workforce development needs – for the sector and with no need for officials to spend time working in time-consuming supportive roles e.g. as a secretariat. |