Universal Youth Work Proposal

Results updated 1 Sep 2020

Consultation Decisions

The consultation has now closed, and the information gathered from participants has been analysed to inform the outcome. The consultation took place between the 18^th December 2019 and 30^th June 2020. The consultation was originally scheduled to conclude at end of April but was extended until the end of June due to Covid-19 restrictions. 552 responses have been received and analysed.

To support the online questionnaire engagement events took place across the county during January to April 2020. The engagement events were attended by more than 260 people and included children, young people, parents, elected members, members of the community and representatives from Community, Voluntary and Faith Sector.

Additional meetings were also held with representatives from the Community, Voluntary and Faith sector.

A public Webinar was held in June and provided participants the opportunity to ask questions about the proposed strategy. This webinar replaced three public engagement events that were cancelled due to Covid-19.

Young people were also given the opportunity to contribute and share their views during closed group sessions. The findings from the ‘Our Voice Matters Survey’ which was completed by more than 1200 young people has also been used to inform the consultation.

SCC would like to thank all those who contributed to the consultation by attending the engagement sessions, the public webinar, meetings, provided feedback and completed the online survey.

During the consultation more than 60 individuals or organisations have expressed an interest in either being part of delivering services at a youth centre and/or taking on the lease of the centre. All of these services would be delivered at no cost to SCC other than the provision of the building to deliver from. The expressions of interest include opportunities for providing open access and targeted support for young people, increased community use and opportunities for income generation for the lease holder. Each centre has a unique set of interested stakeholders and opportunities, a one size fit all approach would not be appropriate and bespoke arrangements are needed for each centre.

As a result of the consultation it has now been agreed that:

1. Surrey County Council enables the community, voluntary and faith sector (CVFS) to use the youth centres for the benefit of young people at little or no cost.
2. Surrey County Council (SCC) acts as an enabler and facilitator of open access universal youth work rather than providing the service directly. The SCC expertise that is valued by residents and in particular young people can then be remodelled to continue to support specific vulnerable groups. The learning from Covid-19 should be used to inform the service design to ensure SCC is able to respond to the needs of young people who would otherwise be vulnerable to poor outcomes.        

Over the coming months we will be working with the organisations that have come forward to either put leases in place or enable them to make use of the centres wherever possible. Our priority is to make sure the centres are first and foremost benefiting young people in the community but there will also be opportunities in some centres for wider community use as the plans for each of the centres are progressed.

We will also be redesigning the services provided by the council that supports the new approach and provides support to young people from particular vulnerable groups.

The full recommendation report and supporting documents can be accessed here:

Files:

• Consultation recommendations report, 834.7 KB (PDF document)
• Delegated Officer Decision Report - youth offer, 211.5 KB (PDF document)