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Agenda item

Responding to the Youth Needs Assessment

Purpose          

The purpose of the report is to share with the Committee the progress made by the Youth Development Officer to date and set out the priorities for the role moving forwards.

 

Recommendation      

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolves to:

1.         Note the report

Minutes:

Councillor Andy Graham, The Leader of the Council, introduced the item and was supported by Heather McCulloch, Community Wellbeing Manager and James Edney, Youth Development Officer. The Executive Member made the following points;

 

  • The Report had been requested by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
  • The Council had expressed a commitment to assess and address the needs of young people.
  • Young people were often not at the table for discussions about what they needed and the nature of the rural district made accessing services difficult.
  • James Edney, Youth Development Officer, was introduced. The Officer made the following points:
    • He was a trained youth worker, with experience at Oxfordshire Youth and Thame Town Council.
    • In his first six months in post he had visited communities and had subsequently identified 6 priority areas which were shown in section 4.1 of the report.
    • There had been some further developments since the report: Stonesfield “have a go day” had taken place and been successful; Topaz, Chipping Norton Town Council and Chippy Pride were now looking to develop a LGBTQI+ group in the town; Witney Youth Partnership would continue, and would focus on issues of exploitation, this would involve networking with other organisations; a job fair would be held on 25 September 2025.
    • The Officer expressed that he was happy to take questions and suggestions for future actions from the Committee.

 

In discussion, members raised the following points:

 

  • Should there be a tangible target for the work being undertaken and clarity on what it was hoped would be achieved. The six priority areas were restated for the Committee.
  • This was a discretionary initiative from the Council and Youth Services was in the remit of the County Council.
  • Past cuts to services and changes in youth culture had left a patchwork provision of services for young people.
  • The Youth Development Officer’s role was suggested to be one of facilitating communication and giving advice, not hosting events and groups. A Councillor gave the example of the Stonesfield “have a go day”, for which the Officer had acted as “glue” to connect local people who facilitated the event.
  • A suggestion was made that green-gyms, hedge laying and dry-stone walling may be looked at as potential activities.
  • The Officer could contact the local private schools as he had with the state schools. The Officer agreed to follow this suggestion up.
  • The Officer could contact local sports clubs who had a strong record for mental health initiatives. The Officer would take away the suggestion. It was noted that some local boxing clubs had been approached.
  • Some young people struggled at school and were left with a feeling of not belonging. Alternative provision was therefore crucial.
  • The work to support young girls was noted as of particular importance.
  • Young people were a valuable and vital voice in society.
  • When facilitating groups for young people there was a need for an adult to manage this. Difficulties in attracting volunteers and potential resources for how this could be supported were explored. The officer noted that, since Covid and exacerbated by the financial crises which meant people may have less free time, there had been a drastic decline in volunteering. There was also the need for volunteers to undertake checks such as DBS. It was noted that in general Oxfordshire performed well for volunteering but there was variance in numbers across groups.
  • There was a degree of professionalism required to work with young people that not all individuals had.
  • The Youth Development Officer role was fixed term for a period of two years.
  • The Officer was asked about the groups he had met in Carterton. The Officer discussed the profile of each group and advised that he intended to work with Community Builders and there was the potential for S106 monies to be used in the town.
  • Many existing groups were only open for specified short period and there may be a need for a more fluid drop-in provision akin to a youth club. In the discussion it was noted that youth clubs were large commitments and were often not sustainable beyond an initial period. Successful youth clubs tended to be operating in heavily populated areas and with large financial support, this may not be viable in many areas of West Oxfordshire.
  • The establishment of a climate forum and young people’s voices around this area. The Officer noted that work was ongoing with the Council’s Climate Team around engaging young people.
  • The 3,908 responses to the Youth Needs Assessment was considered to represent a very good response rate.
  • A query was raised as to if the plan was to bring volunteers to the community or the young people to the volunteer. The Officer expressed that it was the intention for groups to be operated by people from the communities themselves.
  • A query was raised as to why groups such as Scouts had not been included in the report. The Officers noted that such “uniformed organisations” were defined differently to Youth Work.
  • The use of media to attract volunteers and young people was discussed. The Officer noted that this was not part of his work as he was not running groups himself. However, the Officer would assist where possible.
  • The Development Control and Planning Policy Officers had previously expressed and intention to include young people in their engagement. The Committee was unsure if this had been actioned.
  • It was suggested that a recommendation should be made that this local role should continue following LGR. The Executive Member agreed to take this point for consideration.

 

The Chair thanked the Executive Member and Officers for their report and engagement with the Committee.

 

Resolved: That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee note the report.

Supporting documents:

 

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