By David Williams
23 October 2009
Councils have recommended a comprehensive shake-up of services for young people not in education, employment or training, dismissing existing provision as ‘bedevilled’ by bureaucracy.
A joint report by the Local Government Association and the Centre for Social Justice think-tank also damned the current system for stigmatising young people and not offering locally tailored programmes.
Hidden talents was launched on October 21 in Harrogate at the LGA’s annual conference on adult and child services, run jointly with the Association of Directors of Social Services.
The proposals have not been costed, but the LGA and CSJ have pledged to develop a 'practical roadmap' for implementation.
CSJ programme director Robin Millar told Public Finance that any investment should be considered alongside the potential savings in terms of reduced crime and welfare costs over an individual's lifetime. He said a new package of initiatives would not be enough to deal with a worsening problem, and that a 'philosophical shift' was needed in government.
'What is being done at the moment isn't working.
‘If every indicator is correct about the problems that follow on from people having time on their hands, then actually this is a generational problem we’re creating, and this is only going to get considerably worse,’ he said.
Writing in the report’s foreword, LGA chair Margaret Eaton said the root of the problem was the Neet category, which she dismissed as ‘lazy shorthand’ that focused on failure and what people were not doing, rather than what they could do.
The report argued that the term also masked the ‘very different needs, attitudes and experiences of different young people’. It advocated addressing the needs of children from birth, with an emphasis on early intervention, and called for more voluntary sector action at a local level to involve young people in caring, informal learning and volunteering.
The authors criticised the current system as ‘bedevilled by bureaucratic compartmentalism’.
They said too many agencies were involved, implementing incoherent policies and using separate funding pots, while ignoring crucial factors such as individuals’ preferences, local labour markets and cultural attitudes.
Families could be better supported by widening the role of health visitors, the report said. It criticised the government’s Sure Start programme, saying the children’s centres failed to balance the economic good of mothers to resume work with the benefits to families of staying at home to bring up children.
It also recommended voluntary sector-run ‘family hubs’ to provide parenting education, therapy and legal advice.
23 October 2009
Councils have recommended a comprehensive shake-up of services for young people not in education, employment or training, dismissing existing provision as ‘bedevilled’ by bureaucracy.
A joint report by the Local Government Association and the Centre for Social Justice think-tank also damned the current system for stigmatising young people and not offering locally tailored programmes.
Hidden talents was launched on October 21 in Harrogate at the LGA’s annual conference on adult and child services, run jointly with the Association of Directors of Social Services.
The proposals have not been costed, but the LGA and CSJ have pledged to develop a 'practical roadmap' for implementation.
CSJ programme director Robin Millar told Public Finance that any investment should be considered alongside the potential savings in terms of reduced crime and welfare costs over an individual's lifetime. He said a new package of initiatives would not be enough to deal with a worsening problem, and that a 'philosophical shift' was needed in government.
'What is being done at the moment isn't working.
‘If every indicator is correct about the problems that follow on from people having time on their hands, then actually this is a generational problem we’re creating, and this is only going to get considerably worse,’ he said.
Writing in the report’s foreword, LGA chair Margaret Eaton said the root of the problem was the Neet category, which she dismissed as ‘lazy shorthand’ that focused on failure and what people were not doing, rather than what they could do.
The report argued that the term also masked the ‘very different needs, attitudes and experiences of different young people’. It advocated addressing the needs of children from birth, with an emphasis on early intervention, and called for more voluntary sector action at a local level to involve young people in caring, informal learning and volunteering.
The authors criticised the current system as ‘bedevilled by bureaucratic compartmentalism’.
They said too many agencies were involved, implementing incoherent policies and using separate funding pots, while ignoring crucial factors such as individuals’ preferences, local labour markets and cultural attitudes.
Families could be better supported by widening the role of health visitors, the report said. It criticised the government’s Sure Start programme, saying the children’s centres failed to balance the economic good of mothers to resume work with the benefits to families of staying at home to bring up children.
It also recommended voluntary sector-run ‘family hubs’ to provide parenting education, therapy and legal advice.
