The latest National Youth Sector Census ‘snapshot’ report, published by the National Youth Agency (NYA), shows that the voluntary and community sector (VSC) continues to do the lion’s share of delivery, and that there’s an increasing demand for existing services, with over two-thirds saying it’s their second biggest challenge after an increase in operating costs. In particular, the demand for mental health support has increased more than any other targeted service, with demand increasing amongst 82% of organisations.
Increased demand is starkly pitted against the precarious finances of youth work providers, with nearly half of VCS organisations reporting having insufficient reserves to operate beyond six months if their funding stopped. Furthermore, organisations in more deprived areas are more likely to have shorter reserves.
Kevin Jones, Head of Workforce, NYA explained: “The funding challenges faced by grassroots youth organisations, in particular, mean that they are stuck in a catch 22, of wanting to expand their offer to extend their reach, but as they are unable to offer the assurance of long term contracts, they just don’t have the capacity to meet the demand for new or more activities, or indeed attract new staff to grow their offer.”
This year’s Census snapshot report is based on 907 responses, of whom 84% are from the VCS (up from 82% last year) and the remainder of the 100 responses are from Upper Tier Local Authorities, District Councils, Metropolitan Borough Councils and unitary authorities.
Other key fundings from the report include:
- Around two-thirds of organisations report an increase in demand for support responding to violence and crime.
- Around two-thirds (64%) report an increased demand in services addressing employment, training and skills for work – resonating with the reported rise in young people who are NEET (not in education, employment or training) reported by Youth Futures Foundation.
- Organisations that offer employability and skills for work most commonly provide information advice and guidance, support to develop soft skills and mentoring or coaching to young people.
- Twice as many youth sector organisations operate in the most deprived areas, and it’s no surprise that demand is greatest in areas of high deprivation.
- Almost two-thirds (62%) offer activities for educationally or economically disadvantaged young people – up 9% from last year.
Steve Holroyd, Senior Executive Officer, Shrewsbury House Youth and Community Centre aka ‘The Shewsy’, in Everton, said: “The money we get from local government only amounts to about £10,000 a year and our basic running costs are about £350,000, so it’s a drop in the ocean. We offer after school clubs for around 140 young people a day from across the local area five days a week, as well as summer programmes supported by the HAF scheme, but we’re heavily reliant on fundraising, donations, legacies and campaigns, to keep our head just above water.
“The impact of the collapse of the youth work sector has been enormous. Whilst The Shewsy has managed to stay afloat, we know that there’s a greater range of activities and support we could be providing to meet local need.
“Many young people in our area are facing multiple challenges, with chaotic home lives and coming from generations of unemployed. Our club provides somewhere safe to go and allows young people to take part in a range of sporting and creative activities, to build their life skills and to develop a sense of value in their community. We know that there’s a need for more dedicated support to raise aspirations and help young people to progress into further education, training and employment but unless we, and the sector as a whole, gets the investment this requires more young people are going to fall off the conveyor belt when they leave formal education.”
Leigh Middleton, Chief Executive, NYA said: “Our latest Census report paints a rather depressing picture of the state of the youth work sector, but it comes as no surprise that there simply isn’t sufficient provision to meet the burgeoning needs of young people.
“Recovery from over a decade of austerity measures amounting to a loss of £1.1bn in real terms cut to local authority budgets, devasting the sector, is not going to happen overnight. The future is not all bleak however, and we’re heartened by the realisation amongst policy makers that the distinctive contextual support which youth workers provide, is a vital component of broader strategies to improve young people’s health, safety and engagement with education and training.”
Despite the declining financial health of the sector, some areas are demonstrating a concerted effort to work collaboratively across sectors and almost all organisations (94%) work across at least one other sector, in particular in and with schools. More than half of organisation say they engage with sport (57%) and over half support the health system (53%).
The findings of the NYA’s Workforce Survey earlier this year flagged that over half (59%) of respondents have worked in the sector for 10 or more years and over a third (37%) are professional youth workers (with a Level 6 / degree level qualification). The Census snapshot report reinforces this picture, revealing that the majority of staff do not have a youth work qualification, especially amongst smaller organisations.
It appears that the number of staff across the board has also diminished, reflecting the lack of interest in the profession and inability of youth organisations to attract qualified people into the workforce – with a reported drop in median average number of paid staff in the last year (from 5 to 3) and volunteers (from 4 to 2), added to which are less likely to have a level 2 or 3 youth support worker qualification.
The NYA is working with the government, training providers and youth work organisations to help upskill the existing workforce and attract new entrants to the sector.
Such is the demand for youth workers, a new youth work apprenticeship (at Levels 3 and 6), supported by the government’s apprenticeship Levy scheme, has launched this year enabling people to ‘learn while they earn’.
Kevin Jones, added: “Whilst all those working in the sector are committed to delivering youth work which is responsive to need and there’s evidence of much more cross–sector working and innovative commissioning, we’re just not going to be able to provide the level of open-access youth work provision that’s required without a concerted programme of recruitment and without VCS providers being provided with a greater variety of funding streams to be able to guarantee their sustainability and grow their reach.”
The Census is located on the Youth Work One platform at www.youthworkone.org.uk. The Census is reported alongside an interactive dashboard which allows individuals to drill down into the Census dataset in more detail. Youth Work One is a one stop shop for those working with young people, hosting guidance, resources and a forum to help youth workers improve their practice and network with their peers.
