Meeting documents
Youth and Play Service Advisory Committee
Monday, 9th July 2007
Present
Councillors
SA Brown, S L Clarke, T Harney, Karen Hayes, Mrs CM Meaden, ED Prout
Council Officers
Steve Chan (Acting Head, Play), Lindsay Davidson (Deputy Head of Youth Service: Policy Development), Peter Edmondson (Head of Branch, Participation & Inclusion), Terry Hall (Deputy Head, Field Support), Maureen McDaid (Head of Youth & Play Service)
Apologies
Maureen Bonny (Wirral Play Council), Councillor Peter Reisdorf, Geoffrey Watt
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR
- Minute 2 - APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
- Minute 3 - MINUTES
- Minute 4 - WIRRAL PLAY STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
- Minute 5 - HEAD OF SERVICE'S REPORT
- Minute 6 - WIRRAL YOUTH THEATRE / YOUTH ARTS - PEER EDUCATION
- Minute 7 - YOUTH PROJECT USER SURVEY 2006
- Minute 8 - DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Minute 1 - APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR
Minute Text :
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That Councillor Harney be appointed Chair of the Committee for this municipal year.
Minute 2 - APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Minute Text :
As above. Maureen McDaid added that the youth forum representatives might have been delayed.
Minute 3 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
The minutes of the meeting held on 15 March were accepted as a correct record, subject to an amendment to minute 22 to show that the housing needs survey was being undertaken by Wirralhomes, not Wirral Partnership Homes.
The Chair expressed his concern that the survey, completion of which had originally been expected in December 2006, had not yet been published. He felt it would provide useful information on how housing matters affected young people, and it was important for Council members to be in a position to respond to the concerns expressed by young people in time for the Youth Parliament in October.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the question of the housing needs survey be pursued with the Director of Regeneration and he be requested to send an appropriate officer of his department to attend the next meeting.
Minute 4 - WIRRAL PLAY STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Minute Text :
Steve Chan presented the proposed Play Strategy Implementation Plan 2007-2102 and sought the Committee's endorsement of the recommendations as outlined in Appendix A. He explained that the Play Strategy had developed from consultation with children and young people, stakeholders, schools, and through neighbourhood studies, a course of action required as part of the application to the BIG Lottery Children’s Play Initiative. Wirral’s allocation of Big Lottery Children’s Play funding would be £881,208.66, for three years. A play consultant, Marc Armitage of Play People, was appointed in October 2006, and the period of consultation had run from January to April 2007, which had elicited over 1000 responses. The consultation process had included six neighbourhood studies and individual school audits conducted through headteachers. In addition a map of all play provision throughout Wirral had been compiled, with Cultural Services doing a similar exercise in respect of their facilities.
Another key element of the process had been the establishment of the Wirral Play Partnership, which to date had met five times. The terms of reference had been agreed and composition of the Partnership included wide representation from the local authority, the voluntary and community sector and the private sector. Draft recommendations for the Play Strategy had been presented at the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 23 May, which the Committee had supported. They were finalised by the Play Strategy Implementation Group on 19 June and agreed at the Wirral Play Partnership on 29 June. The main headings of the recommendations were:
(1) Enable greater access to freely chosen play and a wide range of quality play opportunities (themes - traffic and accessibility; localised play provision; schools; health, safety and risk).
(2) Develop quality play environments and standards for play (themes - local standards of play; enriching play environments).
(3) Promote community involvement, engagement and mediation (themes - community engagement; community involvement).
(4) Establish an effective delivery mechanism for play (themes - information and advice; network support; raising the profile and importance of play; monitoring & evaluation; play training and professional development).
(5) Enable children and young people to express their views and opinions about the development of play (themes - consultation and involvement).
Appendix B to the report was the Play Strategy Implementation Plan, with objectives and proposed actions set out under each of the above recommendations. In relation to recommendation (4) the Committee was alerted to the need to review its terms of reference to ensure that the governance of play provision was given a higher profile.
Steve Chan also submitted the draft report that would go before the Cabinet on 26 July and which included the proposed bids for Lottery funding. They provided for a mixture of capital and revenue funding and were mainly aimed at supporting provision for under-16's. The underlying principles of the any scheme were that they should be free of charge, young people should be free to come and go in their use of them and they should be free to choose what to do. The proposed bids, which would have to be submitted before the final deadline of 10 September 2007, were:
Play Ranger Service £270,000
Play practitioners £153,000
New and enhanced play areas £200,088
Quality play training £50,000
Local play partnerships £120,000
Management Costs (10% of total) £88,120.66
Total £881,208.66
Steve Chan pointed out that the Play Ranger scheme might have to be limited to £200,000, according to BLF criteria, but was intended to cover the whole of Wirral. Councillor Clarke was pleased to see that not all of the funding would go on fixed play facilities but that resources would also be available for spreading the ethos of play. The Chair supported that and referred to a particular need to ease the tensions between different age groups of children by encouraging the older ones to support the activities of younger children. Steve Chan indicated that local play partnerships would help to encourage that approach.
Peter Edmondson reported that it had still not been possible to find a candidate for the role of Play Champion, who would ensure that play activities were given a high profile and strongly promoted. In the interim, he was acting in that role, but he suggested that the Committee might wish to nominate one of its own members.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That Steve Chan and his colleagues be congratulated on their hard work in bringing the Play Strategy to its current stage.
(2) That the main recommendations of the Play Strategy and the Implementation Plan be endorsed, together with the proposed portfolio of projects to be submitted to the BIG Lottery Fund, and recommended to the Cabinet for approval.
(3) That the Cabinet be asked to accept a change in this Committee's title to the 'Youth and Play Service Advisory Committee', and that it receive regular progress reports on the implementation of the Play Strategy.
(4) That further consideration be given at the next meeting to the appointment of a Play Champion for Wirral.
Minute 5 - HEAD OF SERVICE'S REPORT
Minute Text :
Maureen McDaid introduced her report, which presented an overview of the work undertaken by the Youth and Play Service during the period February - June 2007. In particular she referred to the following matters:
(i) Summer activities arranged through the Youth Service Outreach Team. A key point was the reduction in anti-social
behaviour in the Victoria Park and Mersey Park area, for which the police had thanked the service.
(ii) Work by the Birkenhead Youth Action Project in engaging with young Muslim men.
(iii) Work with the Library Service in the Fulfilling Their Potential initiative and the development of a peer education
programme.
(iv) Activities at the Viking Youth Club, including the posting of a weekly Brook drop-in clinic and success
in a Youth Federation competition by the dance group.
(v) Refurbishment of the Cavendish Youth Club.
(vi) Sports activities organised through the Fender Youth Club.
(vii) Discussions between police and young people in relation to the Section 30 Notice applied to the Woodchurch Estate.
(viii) Moreton Youth Club had gained a Silver Award as part of its participation in the Health Promoting Youth Settings
Programme.
(ix) The proposed re-opening of the Youth House in Leasowe, following repairs.
(x) The involvement of a Community Safety Officer with the Greasby Youth Club.
(xi) Support for individual participants in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme (i.e. those not involved via school, youth club
or uniformed organisation).
(xii) International work, including visits to/from Hong Kong/China, the Azores and Bremen, Germany. Facilities at Ivy Farm
had been enhanced to provide a base for visitors (funded through a WOF grant).
(xiii) The work of the Response Team, including collaboration with Trading Standards and the PCT to ensure that off-licences
complied with the law; establishment of a drop-in counselling service to assist young people who were unable to wait for
appointments; the introduction of kooth.com, an on-line counselling service for young people aged 13 -25; and
operation of the housing advice service, which had been accessed by 120 young people over the previous quarter.
(xiv) Staff training, including that relating to the Child Concern model and child protection training in co-operation with the
NSPCC. Wirral's staff were in demand for workshops across the North-West and further afield as a result of the
gaining of Beacon status.
Councillor Meaden asked about the likely implications of the impending closure of the Oval Sports Centre for refurbishment. Terry Hall replied that the Youth Service would be trying to put on extra activities, especially over the school holidays, which would be publicised through the Outreach Team and, if possible, through schools before the end of term.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That Maureen McDaid be thanked for her report.
Minute 6 - WIRRAL YOUTH THEATRE / YOUTH ARTS - PEER EDUCATION
Minute Text :
Maureen McDaid reported on the peer education opportunities within Wirral Youth Theatre (WYT) and associated progression routes for young people. She explained that participatory arts were an excellent vehicle for peer education, exploring youth work curriculum areas and providing opportunities for personal self-development of young people. WYT’s decision to integrate peer education into its provision gives young people a clear progression route, creatively and educationally, both within WYT and beyond.
WYT peer educators were aged between 16 and 19 years and were given the skills, knowledge, understanding and experience to support qualified workers in delivering workshops and projects with their peers and those younger than themselves. The training process began pre-sixteen in that young people are encouraged to support younger, less confident or new members into sessions. She outlined the broad range of projects that had been undertaken over the previous four years, the ways in which young people acted as peer educators and the various outcomes in terms of new skills, knowledge and experience. Of the thirteen young people who had passed the first BTEC in 2006, three had become part-time youth workers, two had become music apprentices on the Sound Steps Project, five were studying for a diploma in Youth & Community Work at JMU and five were at colleges on performing arts- and sports-related courses.
Lindsay Davidson referred to the two appendices to the report, one of which described in detail how an individual young person had participated in the programme and ultimately benefited from it; the second set out a detailed bid to the Arts Council in order to establish an independent outreach company (First Class Outreach Company). The aim was for those who had qualified via BTEC to use the arts skills that they had developed to produce a performance piece using all of the performing art skills that they had acquired - dance, drama, music and technical theatre - to educate other young people aged 13 to 19 about issues that affected their lives and to explore these issues in a safe environment.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the Committee:
(a) acknowledge the enormous contribution made by the Wirral Youth Theatre;
(b) record its support for the bid to the Arts Council;
(c) try to involve the peer educators in future youth engagement activities.
Minute 7 - YOUTH PROJECT USER SURVEY 2006
Minute Text :
Maureen McDaid informed the Committee about the general findings of the Youth Project User Survey 2006. It was intended that the areas for improvement identified through the survey would be included in the next Youth Service Development Plan. A copy of the full survey was circulated and Lindsay Davidson explained the background to it. In March 2001 the then Department for Education and Skills (DfES) had published 'Transforming Youth Work: developing youth work with young people'. The Transforming Youth Work agenda included a comprehensive approach to planning for local authority youth services. That planning framework was a key component in the DfES specification “Resourcing Excellent Youth Services” published in December 2002, and one of the objectives within that document was that youth services must ensure user satisfaction with the services provided, the associated target being 85% of contacts reporting satisfaction.
In 2004 Wirral Youth Service had commissioned Mott MacDonald MIS to assist in the design and collation of a user survey. The survey questions were designed to assess the following:
• the time periods and frequency with which individuals attended youth projects;
• the range of educational, social and sports activities and experiences available;
• topics and issues learnt;
• achievements and certificates attained;
• the level of involvement individuals had within their unit;
• the amount of resources and information available;
• the overall satisfaction of young people;
• how young people thought provision could be improved.
That first survey had produced a good response, and it had been agreed that it should be repeated biennially, with questions being related to the Every Child Matters outcomes.
The 2006 survey had produced a greater response and showed, in terms of strengths:
• the overall satisfaction rate as 89.2% (compared to 84.4% in 2004);
• 97.9% of young people stating that they felt comfortable to be themselves at their project;
• the range of educational activities, social activities, experiences and information available;
• that young people’s experiences and opinions were taken seriously;
• their involvement in decision making;
• the information available about other agencies and services.
The survey also showed a number of areas were there was scope for improvement, namely:
• health, sex and relationships and environmental issues;
• ICT provision;
• accreditation;
• community involvement.
Those areas would be built into future Service, team and individual unit plans.
The Chair referred to learning about health issues within the context of a youth club. Terry Hall stated that the youth worker involved would need to be innovative in presenting the issue, and Maureen McDaid added that it was customary to enquire about the individual interests of each young person as they joined a club.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - The the Committee commends the Youth Service on the positive findings from the latest survey and endorses the proposal to address those issues highlighted for improvement within the next Youth Service Development Plan.
Minute 8 - DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Minute Text :
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the next meeting be held on Monday 8 October at 5.30pm.
(Minutes Published: 5 September 2007)