How will the extra £1 million investment in the youth engagement and progression framework be spent, and how will the Cabinet Secretary ensure that this represents value for money?
To clarify, the £1 million referenced in the Employability Plan Progress Report is not an additional investment. It is, rather, a continuation of the annual funding we provide to support the delivery of our successful Youth Engagement and Progression Framework (YEPF). This framework represents our coordinated, multiagency approach to supporting young people at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training).
Now in its fifth year, the Framework is aimed at 11-25 year olds, providing a systematic mechanism for local authorities to identify those in need of support, establish the support available, and track the progress of young people as they make the transition from education into further education or employment. It requires an integrated approach from all organisations involved in delivering activity for young people, focussing on the needs of the individual. In this way it seeks to bring together all of the elements of effective NEET reduction in one place.
Local authorities have the strategic lead for the YEPF and grant funding has been provided to them each year since its launch to support its implementation. This has enabled local authorities to put in place an Engagement and Progression Coordinator, develop early identification systems, and put multi-agency processes in place which help to identify at the earliest stage the young people who need support.
As part of this process the right partner organisation (Careers Wales, Schools, Further Education/Work Based Learning providers, youth support services, youth justice, health, housing, third sector etc.) is identified to provide the support the young person needs to progress. This ‘Lead Worker’ approach helps to avoid duplication and the risk of young people being passed unnecessarily from one organisation to another.
Since the introduction of the YEPF we have seen a steady decrease year-on-year in the number of young people who are NEET in Wales and, for the first time since 2006, the level of 16-18 year olds who are NEET has now fallen below 10 per cent.
The multiagency coordination of services provides value for money, making best use of available resources to intervene at the earliest opportunity. Further to this, the regional and national networks that exist support the sharing of best practice and the co-development of resources.
Moving forward, we will continue to improve the effectiveness of the current landscape of employability and skills support for young people, by ensuring alignment between the YEPF and the development of the Employment Advice Gateway.