Natural England

Staff and financial implications

·          Staff and programme resources have been allocated in the A2 Essential Services business plan and no additional resources are being sought.

1.   Young people are a priority group for the Agency.   Based upon a number of research and practical projects over the years, the Agency has gathered evidence that there are significant numbers of socially excluded young people in the countryside and others who experience some disadvantage by virtue of living there.   As part of Spending Review 2002 the Agency submitted a bid to Defra to establish a major new programme aimed at demonstrating ways of addressing and tackling the problems faced by young people in rural areas between the ages of 14 and 25. Whilst this bid was unsuccessful, the Board agreed extra resources should be made available within the Corporate Plan for research and demonstration work on a smaller scale.   The programme is worth £200k in each of three years 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06.  

2.   This paper sets out proposals for this work.   It takes account of what experience and initiatives already exist; the Agency’s role and ways of working; and how we can add value with a modest budget.   Given these circumstances, the rationale for this new work must be clear. We need to a) use the evidence we already have, b) identify the issues, c) assess whether these issues are already being addressed, d) assess what we know about the gaps and d) draw conclusions about what should happen. The discussion and proposals that follow are based on this rationale. 

3.   The aim of the new work is to investigate ways of improving the life chances of young people between the ages of 14 and 25 in rural areas, through research, demonstrating good practice and influencing policy makers to deliver policies and programmes that meet these needs.   Government initiatives tend to focus upon either teenage years (eg Connexions) or early adulthood (eg the New Deal), but by covering a wider age band we hope to pick up on transitional issues.

Progress to date

Government Initiatives

4.   Government and other initiatives to tackle the issues of young people in the countryside have often tended to be urban focused and designed for narrow age groups or to tackle specific problems.   The core government initiatives are Sure Start, Connexions and New Deal, but there are many others.   We have worked closely with the departments leading on these and they have become more rurally sensitive.   Indeed, our work shows that young people living in the countryside are now benefiting substantially from these initiatives, but a rather piecemeal approach means that many other related issues do not get addressed or have to be dealt with separately.   Initiatives aimed at particular issues tend not to work well in the countryside and a more joined up approach is needed.

Existing Agency work

5.   The Agency has a good track record of helping to ensure that some of the main Government initiatives can deliver effectively in rural areas and of testing and disseminating effective and innovative ways of addressing the needs of young people in rural areas. Examples of Agency work are included at Annex 1. 

Agency Board visit

6.   The Agency Board visited the Sout West in March to see at first hand the issues facing young people and gather evidence for the new work.. Some of the key issues to emerge were: long term funding and sustainability of good projects, effectiveness of Government initiatives in meeting the needs of rural people, importance of partnership working and of involving young people in delivery. 

Consultation

7.   To complement lessons from our existing work and the Board visit, we have also sought informal views from a) those organisations we met on the visit; b) key external stakeholders in the statutory and voluntary sector; c) other teams and regional colleagues in the Agency. A summary of the responses is at Annex 2. Based on our existing evidence base, the consultation letter proposed six outcomes: 

- Social inclusion: identify and tackle the trigger factors;

- Better skills - exploit local employment and training opportunities;

- Improved employment and entrepreneurship prospects; 

- Better services - reflecting the needs that are currently lacking for this group; 

- Empowering young people to make choices and take decisions;

- Better healthcare such as effective advice, confidentiality, and drug and alcohol misuse.

8.   It is proposed that the new work will focus more effort on demonstrating approaches that others can adopt. But first we feel that some research is needed to underpin and build the evidence base. 

Research priorities  

9.   The new work needs to ensure that it can demonstrate an integrated process rather than a piecemeal approach and   that it is building upon and not duplicating existing Agency and Government initiatives targeted at young people. On this basis there is an initial need to understand better the full range of work aimed at young people and its impact on rural areas and to complement what we already know. Two relatively short pieces of work are proposed:

a) Policy Map:  this would audit government programmes and policy initiatives tackling issues faced by young people and would provide a tool to understand where policies overlap and where there are gaps. For instance there are a range of social exclusion reports that have recommended action which impact on young people in the countryside across a range of themes (young people leaving care, transport), but it is not clear to what extent these recommendations are reflected in government initiatives delivered through the mainstream. The research would clarify where policies impact on young people in rural areas rather than assessing how well they deliver. 

b) Map of Agency Young People’s Work:  there is a significant body of work within the Agency that is researching and demonstrating ways to identify and tackle issues facing young people (see Annex 1). In addition there is a range of other programmes which do not explicitly target young people, but which nevertheless are providing important lessons applicable to this group (eg, Vital Villages, Market Towns, Countryside Around Towns, rural economies, etc,).   Where there are findings relevant to young people, they should be pulled out   and mapped to illustrate the depth of Agency work on this subject and to ensure that appropriate themes are fully reflected in the new work.

Criteria for selecting demonstration projects to fund 

10.   Responses to the consultation have been very clear that the resoures for the new work   will be spread too thinly if they are directed at each of the six outcomes identified.   We need to focus work on fewer outcomes in greater depth.   Responses have also indicated that some of the outputs could be merged to provide a better focus for activity.   The table below ranks the proposed outputs on the basis of these responses: 

11.   We propose developing three or four major demonstration projects covering these three outcomes.   It seems likely that each one would tackle more than one of the outcomes.   Empowerment is perceived to be the strongest need and should be a focus for the first demonstration project.   Two or three further projects will then be developed, which may have a slightly different focus.   The two pieces of mapping work (para 10) will feed into the development of all the projets.   We also propose that the work should be fairly flexible about the focus on the 14-25 age group, if that means capturing trigger factors for young people’s problems which happen before the age of 14.   In learning from these three or four projects, we would hope to draw upon lessons from similar projects elsewhere.

12.   The responses clearly support our initial view that the work needs to be holistic in the way that it delivers the work and engages with partners and young people themselves. We propose that there will be additional cross-cutting themes running through each of the projects to help achive this:

·         

reflecting the importance of partnership working;

involving young people in potential solutions wherever possible;

linking with other mainstream delivery eg Connexions, Children’s Fund, New Deal;

addressing, where possible, the issue of ethnicity, which has been largely overlooked in a rural context.  

Plans for dissemination

13.   Our main customers for the work will be central, regional and local government (including Whitehall departments, regional development agencies and local strategic partnerships), as well as voluntary and community sector practitioners. There will also be an internal Agency audience.

14.   Research findings (the policy and Agency maps) will be published at an event in December, which will partly be aimed at building a network of organisations to support the work.   Building on this, there will also be a need for a wider conference or seminar event to disseminate some of the findings of the demonstration work in 2005/06 (ie the third year of the work).

Financial and staffing implications

15.   Finance and staff resources are included in the Corporate Plan and A2 Business Plan

Next steps

16.   Design the research tenders and let contracts for the two initial research contracts no later than December 2003; design the tender document and invite tenders for the first demonstration project by December 2003; design tender documents and invite tenders for the two remaining demonstration projects by April 2004. 

Risks and mitigation measures

17.   There are three perceived risks: a) that the objectives are not sufficiently well defined and the priorities are not clear. Mitigating measures - engagement with partners at an early stage and sound research, together with existing evidence base will set clear and well defined objectives and priorities.   b) That we cannot mainstream our ideas. Mitigating measures - we are seeking to involve partners in the project early as possible and not start them unless we can see an exit.   c) The work will not add value to either existing Agency work benefiting young people or to existing initiatives by government and others. Mitigating factors - policy and Agency maps will identify where the gaps are, supported by the buy-in of key stakeholders. 

ANNEX 1

AGENCY FUNDED WORK TACKLING YOUNG PEOPLE’S ISSUES

INFLUENCING:

The Countryside Agency is working closely with the Connexions Service National Unit and have commissioned Ecotec Consultants to identify effective practice in the planning and delivery of Connexions in rural areas. A guide to good practice in the implementation of Connexions in rural areas will be published by the Agency later this year.

The Agency has established good working relationships with DfES colleagues in a number of key policy areas including Sure Start, Childcare, Early Years and Schools. As a result of a very positive meeting with the Secretary of State for Education in December 2002, held jointly with the Minister for Rural Affairs, an Education Task Force has been established to take forward a joint Defra/DfES/Countryside Agency agenda covering in particular transport, access to post 16 education and training and the role of specialist schools in rural areas. 

The Forum, which is coordinated by Andrew Brown, NCH, was set up by the Countryside Agency in 1999.   The main aims of the Forum are to influence policy, disseminate good practice, ensure that the voices of children and young people are heard and provide a forum for organisations to think strategically and exchange information.  

RESEARCH:

The Rural White Paper gave the Countryside Agency the task of reviewing and reporting annually on progress with developing the Rural Services Standard - the minimum standards people should expect in terms of access to public services in rural areas. A number of the standards are relevant to children and young people such as ‘Access to Primary and Secondary Schools’ and ‘ICT in Schools.’  

Children’s Fund 

The Agency is currently undertaking a study to monitor the proportion of the Fund allocated to rural areas and the number of projects supported by the Fund which benefit rural children and young people. The findings of this work will be published later this year.

Aspirations of young people in rural and urban areas - survey for the Rural Advocate

The Agency conducted a survey of 606 young people aged 14-24 in both urban and rural areas between 13 Feb and 5 March 2003. The aim was to seek the views of young people about their quality of life and aspirations. The preliminary findings are that there were differences between young people in urban and rural areas in the things they liked and disliked about their area.   Urban respondents were more likely than rural respondents to see access to local amenities as one of the best three things about living in their neighbourhood.   A low crime rate was more likely to be seen as one of the best things by young people living in rural areas, but they were more likely see poor leisure facilities and job opportunities as the worst things of their rural location. 

DEMONSTRATION:

Social Exclusion programme

Participaton of young people at risk of school exclusion or at risk in other ways has been encouraged by a number of Agency-funded projects and have successfully established an approach based on young people identifying their own needs and involved them in decision making and local community initiatives. (Eg, YP2Clay in Cornwall, The Tynedale Youth Outreach  project in Northumberland and Shiney Row also in Northumberland).

Projects have also tackled thematic aspects of social exclusion, such as employment and training. Ley of the Land project in West Devon, part of this visit, has successfully established capacity for moving young people experiencing rural unemployed into paid work.  

Wheels To Work

'Wheels to Work' (W2W) are Agency funded projects which provide transport solutions to young people who are experiencing difficulties in accessing training, employment and/or educational opportunities, due to the lack of public or private transport.   There are 21 schemes operating nationally.   The Countryside Agency provides up to £250,000 to support up to 75% of the eligible value of transport projects. The schemes are often linked with the Connexions Service

                                                                                                                        ANNEX 2

the needs of young people - CONSULTATION RESPONSES 

During May and June, we sought informal views from; a) those organisations we met on the Agency’s Board visit to the South West and the key external stakeholders in the statutory and voluntary sector; b) other teams and regional colleagues in the Agency about the priorities for the new work. 

We consulted on six proposed outputs: 

-  Social Inclusion: Identify and tackle the trigger factors that lead to young people suffering disadvantage and exclusion.  

- Better skills: Equip young people with the skills to exploit employment and training opportunities where they live.

- Improved employment and entrepreneurship prospects: Develop appropriate and relevant skills for people living in rural areas. 

- Better services:    Encourage the provision of better, more targeted and responsive services reflecting the needs that are currently lacking for young people in rural areas, such as poor public transport, provision of stimulating local leisure, recreational and cultural opportunities and facilities. 

- Empowering young people: Encourage young people to make choices and take decisions affecting their lives which will in turn equip them to play a full part in society, and build the capacity of the community e.g. through youth democracy work.  

- Better healthcare: Address young people’s health care needs, which are often overlooked in rural areas such as the incidence of drug and alcohol misuse; and difficulty in obtaining health advice because of confidentiality issues.  

And five key themes that should run through the work:  

- Reflecting the importance of the partnership working, 

- Involving young people in potential solutions 

- Addressing difficulties in attracting longer term funding for innovative work.

- Linking with other mainstream delivery, eg Connexions, Children’s Fund, New Deal

- Addressing the issue of ethnicity, which has been largely overlooked in a rural context.  

A summary of the responses follows: 

Summary of responses 

a) Key external stakeholders

i) Organisation:  Connexions

Overall Comment: The new work should make the links with existing service provision deliverers such as Connexions, the Youth Services and, as it extents up to 25 year olds, Jobcentre Plus.   The new work needs to highlight what works well in the delivery of services to rural young people and then share that with agencies involved in National delivery.

Key Points:

·         There is some evidence of a lack of suitable provision for poorly qualified young people not in education, employment or training

·         Progress on ‘better services’ would go a long way to resolving a range of problems that prevent young people from returning to learning and work

ii) Organisation:  West Den “Local action for Global change”

Overall Comment: There are currently a number of ‘Innovative’ projects taking place at the local level to support young people but other practitioners and national policy makers are not given the chance to learn from the lessons from them.

Key Points:

·         There is a need for good practice to reach and influence the deliverers of services as well as policy makers

·         Smaller community organisations are often best placed to respond to local need

·         There can be no blueprint for a successful methodology used to support young, disadvantaged people in rural areas.   It is good to learn from examples of techniques that have been successful but wrong to presume that there is a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ response to very different circumstances

iii) Organisation:  NCH

Overall Comment: On the whole as a society we have a very negative view of young people, who tend to be seen more as a problem rather than active, contributing members of the community.

Key Points:

·         The priority should be developing models of effective participation for young people in rural areas

·         Listening to, empowering and involving young people and engaging in dialogue with them will help to form the basis for the development of future work 

·         We should be asking rural young people what are the outcomes that they want and build on that

iv) Organisation:  Forum for Rural Children and Young People

Overall Comment:  A preventative strategy would be a fruitful approach.

Key Points:

·         Due to the size of the budget it might be better to focus on fewer outcomes in greater depth

·         Consider using the forum to help commission, oversee and evaluate the projects and research

·         Explicitly address the mainstreaming of project lessons as this is a very significant issue for both voluntary and statutory sectors

v) Organisation:  Somerset Rural Youth Partnership

Overall Comment:  A new work should in part focus on lobbying on behalf of the voluntary sector organisations to receive mainstream funding from statutory bodies e.g. Learning and Skills Councils need to deliver services such as the ‘Moped Loan Scheme’

Key Points:

·         Voluntary sector organisations struggle to find sustainable funding solutions

·         Voluntary sector organisations are much better at being flexible, reactive and innovative than the statutory sector and better able to tackle the multiple issues of rural young people in a cross-cutting way

vi) Organisation:  The National Youth Agency

Overall Comment:  Welcome the focus on tackling young people’s issues in a holistic way.   It is only by cross Agency working that proper solutions can be developed.

Key Points:

·         It is important to seek sustainable outcomes

·         Too often the needs of young people are addressed by short term projects which have individual benefit, but limited wider application

vii) Organisation:  Commission For Racial Equality

Overall Comment:  Supportive of our intentions to focus on the theme of ethnicity, which has previously been overlooked in a rural context.

Key Points:

·         Young black and minority ethnic people face particular problems of alienation, isolation and racism in non-urban settings

·         It is important not to forget the needs of young Travellers and Gypsies, many of whom are found in rural areas

·         In the outcomes, consider adding access to information and communications technology as well as education.

viii) Organisation:  Rural Health Forum

Overall Comment:  Welcomed the forthcoming programme.

Key Points:

·         As the new work funding is relatively small it would be sensible to concentrate on identifying the gaps in rural provision and working with existing agencies to fill the gaps

·         It may be better to focus the funding on piloting an approach rather than spreading the funding thinly throughout the regions

·         There is a need to raise the issue of access to appropriate sexual health care and guidance, especially with regard to confidentiality 

·         Access to drug, alcohol and substance misuse treatment services is a key issue

b) Key internal stakeholders – Countryside Agency policy teams and regions 

Overall Comment:  A large number of positive   responses were received from people in the regional offices that deal with young people.   They were generally supportive of the outcomes listed in the consultation letter. The points below reflect those not already made by external stakeholders.

Key Points:

·          Trial of a youth ‘time bank’.   Many young people have time and enthusiasm to put into helping others through voluntary activity and they may be encouraged to do so through the reciprocity of the ‘Time Bank’ ideals

·         Accommodate as wide an age range as possible so ‘11-25’ is more appropriate

·         The most important priorities should be around affordable housing, training, employment opportunities, transport and healthcare

·         Support projects which promote crime reduction through sport, training or arts 

YOUNG PEOPLE - KEY FACTS AND FIGURES

General:

Ÿ         one fifth of England’s population lives in a rural area.

Ÿ         30% of the rural population is aged under 25

Ÿ         more than 18% of the rural population is under 15

(Source: NPI Indicators of poverty and social exclusion in rural England, 2000)

Access to services:

Ÿ         49% of rural parishes had no youth groups or clubs

Ÿ         86% of rural parishes had no adult education courses available

Ÿ         49% of rural parishes had neither a school nor a college

Ÿ         21.5% of rural households live more than 4km from a secondary school

Ÿ         49% of rural parishes had no youth groups or clubs

Ÿ         73% of rural settlements (less than 3000 residents) had no youth groups or clubs

(Source: Rural Services, 2000) 

Employment:

Ÿ         in 1999 some 28% of young people aged 16 and over in rural districts were in part-time employment compared with 28% in non rural districts

Ÿ         in 1999 9.7% of young people aged 16 and over in rural districts were in self-employment, compared with 7.1% in non-rural districts.

(Source: Nomis, 2001) 

·         the unemployment rate (ILO) for 18-24 year olds in rural areas is three times that for older workers 

·         60,000 18-24 year olds in rural districts are unemployed (ILO)

Income:

Ÿ          26% of children in ‘remote rural’ districts and 22% in ‘accessible rural’ districts live in low-income households.

(Source: NPI Indicators of poverty and social exclusion in rural England, 2002)

Risk Factors:

Ÿ          In 2000/01 a higher proportion of children are placed on the ‘at risk’ register in ‘remote rural’ districts than either ‘accessible rural’ or urban districts.

Ÿ          6,000 children in rural districts were placed on the child protection register in 2000/01.

Ÿ          Between 1998 and 2000, the rate of suicides for young people aged between 16 to 24 was higher in ‘remote rural’ districts when compared to ‘accessible rural’ and urban districts. 

Ÿ          6% of 16-29 year olds in rural areas report using Class A drugs in the last year.

(Source: NPI Indicators of poverty and social exclusion in rural England, 2002)

Education: 

Ÿ          Nearly one in four 19 year-olds in rural districts fail to achieve a basic qualification (NVQ1 or equivalent). One in twelve have no qualifications at all.

Ÿ         130,000 19 year olds in rural districts fail to achieve a qualification of NVQ2 or equivalent  

(Source: NPI Indicators of poverty and social exclusion in rural England, 2002)