Youth Measure

Speech by Peter Black delivered to Plenary on Wed 14th May 2008

I wanted to start by acknowledging the good work that is already going on around Wales by local Councils and Young People's Partnerships in providing vital services for youngsters.

There are many examples of good projects all over Wales - run by local councils and their partners - helping to promote crime prevention, working across disciplines within communities, providing mentoring and positive role models, youth forums, providing play facilities, working in schools, and promoting the involvement of children and young people in community regeneration.

There are also some very good Welsh Government strategies including a National Youth Service Strategy for Wales and Extending Entitlement which advocated ensuring that all young people have access to the support they need to make a success of their lives.

The issue however is that little of this provision is statutory.

There is no statutory duty on local authorities to provide sporting facilities or leisure centres. Each local authority determines how and what level of provision they want to provide and there are significant differences between authorities

I do not seek through this measure to impose a standard level of youth provision across Wales. Each local authority area has unique needs and pressures. However, at a minimum there should be a requirement on local Councils to consult with young people and systematically plan and deliver services across their area that meets the needs of each community. My measure seeks to impose that duty.

This is a markedly different approach to that taken by the UK Government in particular. I know from my own experience that many anti-social behaviour incidents reported to the authorities arise because local residents feel intimidated by groups of young people gathering in a particular place. These youngsters can be noisy or boisterous but that is not a crime. When you talk to them what they want above anything else is somewhere to go, where they can hang out and where they are safe.

Despite this the UK Government seeks to demonise these young people. Home Office Statistical Bulletins for example list a series of Anti-Social Behaviour Indicators including abandoned or burnt out cars, people being drunk or rowdy in public places or using or dealing in drugs and vandalism, graffiti and other deliberate damage to property. I think we would all agree that these amount to anti-social behaviour. I am not so sure whether in the vast majority of cases teenagers hanging around on the streets fall into the same class and yet it is listed there as well.

And let us be clear, the vast majority of young people do not engage in anti-social behaviour. They do however require facilities and a place to go where they can socialise and engage with their peers in the same way as everybody else. They need adequate transport provision and affordable leisure facilities. The group most likely to be victims of anti-social behaviour or crime are young people themselves.

We have talked recently about the value of play in helping 3 to7 year olds learn as part of the Foundation Phase. The same applies to teenagers and those in their early twenties as well. Youth provision does not have to be structured around educational opportunities nor does it have to be organised leisure time. Many young people will run a mile from such services.

Young people need to be treated with respect and trusted to fill their own leisure time. In my view it is the role of statutory authorities to provide facilities to enable them to fulfil their potential and so as to enable them to learn how to interact with others and to take responsibility for their own lives.

A recent report commissioned jointly by South Wales Police and the Children's Commissioner identified the benefits of a more universal youth provision as providing positive things for young people to do. This can include increasing confidence and competence amongst marginalised children and young people, the greater involvement of young people and other local residents in positive community based activity, the better co-ordination of specialist services for children and young people, improvements to the physical environment and provision of opportunities for economic regeneration.

The report stated that 'whilst recognising the many positive initiatives that are being taken forward in South Wales there is a feeling amongst many practitioners that much more could be achieved. For example, what benefits would be derived from services being able to better co-ordinate or integrate the diverse range of activity that is currently available? Is it possible to look at all the statutory, private, voluntary and community group activity with and for young people and develop a more holistic approach? A model that offers a broad menu of services and support, involves young people in improving the communities in which they live; and which involves service providers working in collaboration rather than in competition.' It is that which I hope to work towards through this measure.

One of the best examples of the sort of provision I believe is beneficial is the KPC Youth Centre in Pyle, in Bridgend. The facility could act as an exemplar of good practice to local authorities up and down the country - yet KPC Youth is not operated by the council, but is run on a completely voluntary basis.

The facility was started up by Helena Parobij after her 18-year old son died of a drug overdose. Her vision was for a youth centre that would provide an opportunity for young people to escape the kind of boredom that might cause anti-social behaviour, petty crime or drug use.

When setting up the facility, Helena asked local youngsters what kind of facilities they wanted and the result is a state-of-the-art centre with a music and dance studio, a computer suite, pool and table tennis tables, drop-in cafe, information centre, all-weather pitch, BMX course, skateboard park and much more. It has 750 eighteen to twenty five year olds on its books from Pyle, Cornelly, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr and there has been a drop in crime in those communities. Agencies such as the Police are fully engaged and last time I spoke to them there were plans to set up a social enterprise there so as to ease the path of local youngsters into employment.

The big issue for the centre has been the lack of core funding. They are now on their third three year lottery grant and raise money from a whole host of other events and donations.

Talk to young people in other communities and they will tell you that there are very few things for teenagers to do or places to go. They want more after school facilities, music facilities and drama groups, youth clubs, better leisure facilities and many more. Where we do not have that provision we are failing young people and we are failing the communities in which they live.

I am delighted that the Minister has expressed her support for the principle of this Measure.

From talking to her, I understand that the Government fully approves of what we are trying to achieve. She has thanked me for highlighting the issue of patchy provision, and for presenting a workable solution to the problem.

I believe that in order to secure the kind of services we have been talking about today, we need to pursue the matter through a Measure. I do not share the Minister's view that the same can be achieved through revising existing guidance.

I welcome the Minister's commitment to take up this cause. But my fear is that guidance will not be sufficient to achieve what I am seeking to do. Guidance, by nature, is not enough. We have had guidance in place through the 'Extended Entitlement' document, and I believe it has not proved effective. The evidence for that is there for all to see in our local communities. We need to work on a strategy based on primary legislation that will extend the opportunities available to young people and enable them to engage constructively with their own communities across the whole of Wales, not just where there happens to be convenient sums of money such as Community First areas.

If you agree with the principle - that there should be a stronger commitment to providing opportunities for young people - then I would urge you to allow me the six months to develop this measure in to a fully fledged proposal. At that stage - you would be better placed to judge the merits of my measure. If you are unsure about whether this is the best means of doing it - then support it now, and consider it again when it comes back to this chamber.

The government can continue with their guidance in parallel. They may well be able to make a difference but if we throw this measure out now, and guidance proves insufficient, then we will have failed a generation of young people by the time we are able to bring this back.

We have before us a real opportunity to work the principles of the Measure into a robust framework which will secure the provision of vital youth services across all parts of Wales. If the Measure is passed, we will be offering young people a real opportunity to escape the dangers of a life that can lead to victimisation and anti-social behaviour, and will offer young people an alternative route to make the most of their future.

I urge you all to support the motion today.

Thank you