Decision details

Reason for the decision

The existing contracts for the commissioned Youth Services are due to expire at the end of March 2024.  KCC must make a decision as to the future provision and spend.

The cost of the current Youth Service contracts is £1,2M, the savings made by not continuing to commission these services would be £913K from the base budget. The remainder c£321k of the funding is currently utilising the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and this would enable a further reduction to the current DSG overspend.

In accordance with Securing Kent’s Future, it is necessary for all services to review future spend, in particular where contracts are reaching end points.  In addition, the development of the Family Hub model at the same time offers the opportunity to update KCC’s approach to Youth Service provision without the commissioned activity previously put in place through these contracts.

Background

KCC is committed to providing youth provision that meets the needs of vulnerable young people and their families in Kent. We remain committed to offering youth groups to individuals that face barriers to participation in privately funded activities elsewhere.

The recommended approach would involve KCC providing a directory of youth services that are available, both delivered by KCC and available elsewhere across the County . This would be managed centrally, and we would commit to carrying out an annual mapping activity in each district to ensure the information on local services is up to date. This would form part of the local partnership work within Family Hubs.

Options:

Option 1:

No commissioned Youth Services contracts delivering discretionary services will be renewed when they end in March 2024, enabling a saving to the Council’s base budget of £913k and reduction of the DSG overspend of £321K. As described, the Council’s current youth provision will continue to be delivered within a Family Hub model and will provide youth provision for children and support for their families where it is most needed. Young people with SEND will continue to receive a universal support service through existing KCC channels and be supported in accessing wider groups and support through the Family Hub network. 

Cessation of commissioned Youth Services delivering discretionary services would bring Kent in line with the national picture. This is the recommended option as it addresses the current requirements of the Council’s financial recovery strategy. 

Option 2:

The alternative option (and is not the preferred approach) is for KCC to renew the contracts for the current commissioned Youth Services delivering discretionary services and not realise a saving of £913k and reduction of the DSG overspend of £321K. This decision would not impact on the Council’s proposed direction of travel to reconfigure existing standalone Open Access inhouse services into a whole family approach model for infants, children, young people and their families aged 0 to 19 (25 with SEND). If the savings cannot be realised by ending the commissioned Youth Services contracts delivering discretionary services, it will not be possible to meet the commitment set out in our MTFP from this set of activities and savings will be required to be made elsewhere in the CYPE Directorate.

As an additional factor if the Council were to continue with these commissioned Youth Services, as the current contracts are due to come to an end, this will require the delivery of a new procurement process with its associated costs and delay for any deployment of new services. It is estimated that this process would result in an approximately six-month gap in youth provision. This estimate is based on the need to procure new commissioned Youth Services delivering discretionary services in line with the Family Hub model.

Due to significant budgetary challenges KCC needs to review all of its commissioned contracts that are coming to a natural end as these contracts are.

It is not recommended that KCC renew the current commissioned Youth Service delivering discretionary services contracts from April 2024 as this approach would not deliver the required savings.

How the proposed decision supports the Strategic Statement:

The cessation of commissioned services at contract end point would align with the budget recovery activity required under Securing Kent’s Future. The current contracts are ceasing. Any model of delivery must proactively evidence the best value for money in decision making.

Consultation

KCC ran a public consultation which included proposals for the cessation of youth contracts between 19 July and 13 September 2023. Officers have analysed consultation responses and taken these fully into account in developing proposals. A final decision will subject to consideration of consultation feedback by the decision-maker.

Data Protection implications

The Data Protection Impact Assessment will be reviewed as the Family Hub model develops

Cabinet agree to:

a)    cease the delivery of service provision through the commissioned Youth Service contracts from 1 April 2024 when existing contracts come to an end.

b)    Delegate authority to the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education to take necessary actions, including but not limited to entering into any relevant contracts and other legal agreements, as required to implement this decision.