Education, Training and Employment
YJB Working Partnerships
Click for more information on working with key agencies. The information below relates to national, strategic relationships driving policy.
Connexions
The YJB and the Connexions service have been working in partnership since 2002, recognising the unique contribution the service can make to meeting the complex education, training and employment needs of young offenders. Due to this shared agenda there are now over 200 Connexions personal advisers (PAs) working directly in the youth justice system. A practice guide [opens in new window] to help agencies plan how they work together in pursuit of the joint target has been published.
The 2002 spending review allocated money to enhance work towards meeting the 90% target. This is now being used to fund additional Connexions PAs working in eight selected Connexions areas in England. Additional PAs and strategic managers have been seconded either into YOTs or custodial facilities funded by the YJB.
The first two years of the project have been evaluated by Oxford University. Click to view the reports.
The final report for year 2 is now available.
The eight areas selected on the basis of high throughput of the target DTO and ISSP cohorts are:
Tyne and Wear
Gateshead YOT, Newcastle upon Tyne YOT, North Tyneside YOT, South Tyneside YOT, Sunderland YOT
Birmingham and Solihull
Birmingham YOT, Solihull YOT
Central London
Camden YOT, City of Westminster YOT, Islington YOT, Kensington and Chelsea YOT, Lambeth YOT, Southwark YOT, Wandsworth YOT
Bolton YOT, Bury YOT, Manchester YOT, Oldham YOT, Rochdale YOT, Salford YOT, Stockport YOT, Tameside YOT, Trafford YOT, Wigan YOT, Hindley YOI
Bradford and District YOT, Calderdale YOT, Kirklees YOT, Leeds YOT Wakefield YOT, Wetherby YOI
Blackburn with Darwin YOT, Blackpool YOT, Lancashire YOT, Lancaster Farms YOI
Bath and NE Somerset YOT, Bristol YOT, North Somerset YOT, South Gloucs YOT, Ashfield YOI
Further information about the role of the Connexions Service in helping all young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) as well as those in the youth justice system is available on the Connexions website [opens in new window].
In Wales these functions are carried out by Careers Wales [opens in new window].
The Learning and Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council [opens in new window] is responsible for post-16 education and training (except higher education) in England. In Wales it is the responsibility of ELWa [opens in new window]. To enable better integration of offender learning between custody and community the LSC have now taken responsibility for all offender education, which will include all young offenders in YOIs run by the Prison Service. For further information on this see our OLASS web page.
The YJB and LSC have recently signed a partnership agreement, which will also help ensure easier access for all young offenders to mainstream post-16 education such as E2E programmes, GCSEs and GNVQ courses.
Click to download the partnership agreement [opens in new window, 130Kb Word document] between the YJB and the LSC.
Given the age profile of young people in the young justice system, the education and training of at least 50% of them will be the responsibility of the LSC and ELWa.
While local LSCs are not statutory partners in YOTs in the way that LEAs are, they have an important role to play in ensuring there is adequate provision as part of their remit to improve engagement among the NEET population.
The commitment of the LSC to this work is set out in its publication Successful Participation for All: Widening Adult Participation [opens in new window].
The YJB and the LSC are collaborating on the Entry to Employment (E2E) [opens in new window] pathfinder for young offenders. This is a partnership between four voluntary sector training providers, the YJB and the LSC, and operational in three areas.
DCSF Improving Behaviour and Attendance Programme
www.dcsf.gov.uk/behaviourandattendance [opens in new window]
This programme is designed to improve behaviour and attendance in schools where it represents a barrier to learning. Given the links between truancy and crime, this initiative is of great importance to the YJB’s education, training and employment agenda.
Close links with YOTs are being developed in the 61 local authority areas where additional funding is enabling the introduction of Behaviour and Education Support Teams. The strategic objectives of the programme are being influenced through the YJB’s work on the national steering committee.