Agenda item

Steve Milton and Winnie Manning will give an update on the changes to the provision of youth services in Salisbury, introduce the new local youth network and explain the role of Salisbury’s new  Community Youth Officer.

The Board will note the information in the attached report and papers circulated at the meeting, and will consider the following recommendations:

Recommendations

1.   To approve the terms of reference and membership of the LYN management group (to be tabled at the meeting).

2.   That in respect of urgent matters that may arise from time to time between meetings, the Community Area Manager, in consultation with the Community Youth Officer and the Chairman of the Area Board, be granted delegated authority to approve expenditure not exceeding £1000 from the youth budget for projects in relation to positive activities for young people.  A report explaining any such decision and the reasons why it was considered to be urgent shall be reported to the next ordinary meeting of the Area Board.

3.   That authority be delegated to the Community Area Manager to manage an annual budget of up to £500 to cover expenditure related to the management of the LYN  and its activities.  A report giving details of any expenditure incurred will be reported to the next ordinary meeting of the Salisbury Area Board.

Steve Milton and Winnie Manning gave an update on the changes to the provision of Youth Services in Salisbury and gave an introduction to the new Local Youth Network (LYN) and explained the role of Salisbury’s new Community Youth Officer.

The Council had asked each Area Board to establish a LYN, and a wider LYN, which was a database of groups involved with youth work, within the community area. Those on the wider LYN would receive regular information on activities going on for young people across Salisbury.

The LYN would be a smaller group of individuals who would come together six times a year, with the primary role of engaging young people. The membership would include a full representation of young people and the group would be supported by the Community Youth Officer, Winnie Manning.

In 2014/15, the Board targeted £26,000 of funding for activities young people, next year the funding available would be higher. Any applications submitted to the Board for youth activity funding would be passed to the LYN for consideration and recommendation back to the Board.

Young people would be put at the heart of the process, with the LYN being an important method for them to have their view without being phased or intimidated. The LYN would work in a transparent way to ensure that a fair distribution of projects across the city was possible.

In the LYN toolkit which had been produced, there were 14 categories of guidance. Two of those which would be looked at were areas around poverty and depravation and areas of antisocial behaviour.

Questions and Comments included:

·       How would success be measured, would you start from now with no young people involved, or from other figures? Answer: Young people would have a key role to play. We do not know how everything will work at this stage.

·       Middle class articulated young people are best at achieving funding, how would you ensure that all areas of the community area able to access funding? Answer: We have already approached the schools to make contact with young people, to establish how they would like to be engaged. The idea was to target young people from different backgrounds, similar to the work the YAG carried out with these groups of young people. Winnie already had experience of making it work there.

·       Funds would not be spent on things which middle class families would already be funding themselves.

·       The measure of success was key. We should ensure that we prioritise the needs of the most vulnerable and that the overall purpose is to promote positive lifestyle choices.

The Board noted the information and the recommendations in the attached report and papers circulated at the meeting.

Decision

Salisbury Area Board agreed the following:

1.   The terms of reference and membership of the LYN management group (tabled at the meeting).

2.   That in respect of urgent matters that may arise from time to time between meetings, the Community Area Manager, in consultation with the Community Youth Officer and the Chairman of the Area Board, was granted delegated authority to approve expenditure not exceeding £1000 from the youth budget for projects in relation to positive activities for young people.  A report explaining any such decision and the reasons why it was considered to be urgent would be reported to the next ordinary meeting of the Salisbury Area Board.

3.   Authority was delegated to the Community Area Manager to manage an annual budget of up to £500 to cover expenditure related to the management of the LYN and its activities.  A report giving details of any expenditure incurred would be reported to the next ordinary meeting of the Salisbury Area Board.