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Youth service mutuals: the new way for councils to get value for money Youth service mutuals: the new way for councils to get value for money
(about 1 month later)
Local authorities do not have to spend any money working with young people unless they fall into particular categories of need. So in the present financial climate, traditional youth services are under threat – why spend money you don't have to spend?Local authorities do not have to spend any money working with young people unless they fall into particular categories of need. So in the present financial climate, traditional youth services are under threat – why spend money you don't have to spend?
The answer, from the point of view of any community with young people in it, is that good quality youth services represent great value for money. They help the majority of well-adjusted young people gain an understanding of community and citizenship. They give the minority – at risk of causing trouble for others or for themselves – outlets for their energy and their frustrations. To put it in stark terms, none of us can afford to live in a society in which rioting and looting become an accepted means of protest or a recreational activity. More prosaically, Once you've balanced the usually modest budget for local authority youth services against the local costs of vandalism and crime by disaffected young people or the astronomical cost of one young person going through the judicial system and ending up in prison, only the most short-sighted person would want to abandon youth services.The answer, from the point of view of any community with young people in it, is that good quality youth services represent great value for money. They help the majority of well-adjusted young people gain an understanding of community and citizenship. They give the minority – at risk of causing trouble for others or for themselves – outlets for their energy and their frustrations. To put it in stark terms, none of us can afford to live in a society in which rioting and looting become an accepted means of protest or a recreational activity. More prosaically, Once you've balanced the usually modest budget for local authority youth services against the local costs of vandalism and crime by disaffected young people or the astronomical cost of one young person going through the judicial system and ending up in prison, only the most short-sighted person would want to abandon youth services.
Faced with this situation, many local authorities have concluded that the least worst option is to reduce spending on youth services and look for ways of getting more value for money. Where this strategy is being worked out in dialogue with youth workers, the idea of a spin-out from the council, with lower overheads and the ability to trade, is proving attractive.Faced with this situation, many local authorities have concluded that the least worst option is to reduce spending on youth services and look for ways of getting more value for money. Where this strategy is being worked out in dialogue with youth workers, the idea of a spin-out from the council, with lower overheads and the ability to trade, is proving attractive.
The idea is sound, but the devil is in the detail. Trading to raise additional income sounds simple, but identifying where the income will come from and establishing that it can be raised profitably and without compromising the core service can be difficult. In many cases, it will be hard to avoid a conversation with staff about them bearing some of the pain of the reduced budget, very uncomfortably in redundancies or pay reductions, or less uncomfortably in changes to working methods to produce higher productivity. The business plan is key, and writing it will mean facing difficult questions.The idea is sound, but the devil is in the detail. Trading to raise additional income sounds simple, but identifying where the income will come from and establishing that it can be raised profitably and without compromising the core service can be difficult. In many cases, it will be hard to avoid a conversation with staff about them bearing some of the pain of the reduced budget, very uncomfortably in redundancies or pay reductions, or less uncomfortably in changes to working methods to produce higher productivity. The business plan is key, and writing it will mean facing difficult questions.
All of this explains why mutual structures are being talked about as part of the future for youth services. The realisation that the services are unlikely to survive within the council in their present form provides a backdrop and youth workers would rather face change in an organisation in which they have a stake than in one in which they are just Tupe transfers.All of this explains why mutual structures are being talked about as part of the future for youth services. The realisation that the services are unlikely to survive within the council in their present form provides a backdrop and youth workers would rather face change in an organisation in which they have a stake than in one in which they are just Tupe transfers.
My own experience of the business-planning process in a couple of cases suggests that this approach works well so far as it goes but that something is missing. That something is young people. This is true at a conceptual level – if the aim is that young people should feel engaged and empowered rather than alienated and undervalued, it makes sense to involve them – but it is also true at a commercial level.My own experience of the business-planning process in a couple of cases suggests that this approach works well so far as it goes but that something is missing. That something is young people. This is true at a conceptual level – if the aim is that young people should feel engaged and empowered rather than alienated and undervalued, it makes sense to involve them – but it is also true at a commercial level.
Youth workers setting out to deliver services from outside the council need to know that they are delivering the right services and that they are delivering them well. The only people who can tell them whether they are delivering are young people. That means that young people need a voice and young people are sceptical about being "consulted" – too often that has meant being asked what they think before the adults do what they planned to do anyway (not an unknown phenomenon in any consultation exercise). The response of young people in one case was telling – told that they would be given a stake in decision-making, the immediate question was "Do you mean it?"Youth workers setting out to deliver services from outside the council need to know that they are delivering the right services and that they are delivering them well. The only people who can tell them whether they are delivering are young people. That means that young people need a voice and young people are sceptical about being "consulted" – too often that has meant being asked what they think before the adults do what they planned to do anyway (not an unknown phenomenon in any consultation exercise). The response of young people in one case was telling – told that they would be given a stake in decision-making, the immediate question was "Do you mean it?"
So there is a need to give young people real and meaningful ways of engaging with the organisation which is delivering services and well-designed mutual structures are good at that. But the commercial logic goes one stage further. Suppose an organisation could be established in which young people in their thousands had a stake and in which they were actively engaged. That organisation would be an immensely powerful resource and an obvious vehicle for spending by any public or third sector body trying to reach young people. In a world in which spending decisions are difficult and in which real engagement with young people is at a premium, a mutual with young people at its centre will be uniquely placed to trade successfully. Mutuals delivering youth services will continue to be staff led, but in many cases they will be led to engage young people as members and partners in decision making because that is what the business plan requires.So there is a need to give young people real and meaningful ways of engaging with the organisation which is delivering services and well-designed mutual structures are good at that. But the commercial logic goes one stage further. Suppose an organisation could be established in which young people in their thousands had a stake and in which they were actively engaged. That organisation would be an immensely powerful resource and an obvious vehicle for spending by any public or third sector body trying to reach young people. In a world in which spending decisions are difficult and in which real engagement with young people is at a premium, a mutual with young people at its centre will be uniquely placed to trade successfully. Mutuals delivering youth services will continue to be staff led, but in many cases they will be led to engage young people as members and partners in decision making because that is what the business plan requires.
Kevin Ford is chief executive of FPM, a leading UK consultancy firm which focuses on services for young people. Kevin is taking part in a live discussion this lunchtime (Wednesday 15 May, 12-1.30pm) on public service mutualsKevin Ford is chief executive of FPM, a leading UK consultancy firm which focuses on services for young people. Kevin is taking part in a live discussion this lunchtime (Wednesday 15 May, 12-1.30pm) on public service mutuals
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