Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director – Children and Young People providing information on the arrangements for the future commissioning of “Connexions Services”

It was advised that, “Youth Matters” required by April 2008 responsibility for commissioning Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) and the funding that went with it be devolved to local authorities working through children’s trusts, schools and colleges. Local authorities were expected to lead a genuinely collaborative approach and develop new arrangements for delivering IAG that clearly met the needs of young people in the area. These arrangements would be planned and implemented in a way that not only supported the delivery of the 14 – 19 learning entitlement but were integrated into a wider set of Youth Support Services for teenagers and their parents.

Local Authorities were responsible and accountable for Youth Policy in their area and were taking responsibility for integrated planning and commissioning of the full range of services for teenagers from universal activities through to more specialist and targeted support. This would enable, over time, universal and targeted services to work closely together to provide integrated support for young people and to improve outcomes for them.

“Youth Matters” also made it clear that the support and guidance provided by Connexions should now “go local” so that they could be more fully included and integrated with the whole range of services for young people and their parents and carers. It was intended that the “localisation” of Connexions services would be achieved through the development of an integration Youth Support Strategy at a local level, which would enable a greater coherence of service to young people and their parents/ carers and provide greater efficiency in the way services were procured and delivered locally. More recently, the publication of PSA delivery agreements, and in particular PSA 14, focused upon the objective to “increase the number of children and young people on the path to success”.

On 25^th March 2008 the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families wrote to local authorities notifying them of interim arrangements for the delivery of Connexions services and assessments for young people with learning difficulties from 1^st April 2008. The Education and Skills Bill, currently before Parliament, proposed that legal responsibilities be brought into line by effecting transfer to local authorities of the statutory responsibility of Connexions services. Further details were outlined within the report for Members’ consideration together with a number of arrangements that had previously agreed by the Board in November 2007 in preparation for implementation. Progress towards these arrangements had been overseen by a Transition Steering Group comprising of the Chief Executives of Halton, Liverpool and St. Helens; the Directors of Children’s Services at Knowsley, Sefton and the Wirral; and the Chairman being the Chief Executive of Halton Borough Council.

In 2008 legal advice received by the participating local authorities indicated that the commissioning of Greater Mersey Connexions Partnership could only occur for 2008/09 and that EU Procurement Regulations would need to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85