Sometimes it can feel very isolated working in a small community and it can be difficult to know what all the other groups and partnerships working in the wider, local authority area are actually doing and where, if anywhere, you should point your antennae. For Communities First to be able to deliver on improving the quality of life in disadvantaged communities for children and young people as well as adults those working with Partnerships Boards really have to engage with the service planners and providers of local services including schools, leisure facilities, social services and hospitals. To do that effectively those working with the Communities First Partnership Boards and those living in Communities First areas need to have a good understanding of:

• What decisions are being made about the provision of health, education, and social care and other public and voluntary services in the area?
• How these decisions are being made and by whom?
• How these decisions will affect the community where you live and/or work?
• How people living in the community can influence these decisions and have a say in shaping these services.

It’s important to know these things and to be able to support children and young people to influence the decisions. Children and young people receive more public services, for more of their waking day, than most adults. Children and young people go to school, they use the leisure facilities, public transport, recreation areas, hospitals, GP’s, health clinics, libraries, swimming pools and so on, on a very regular basis.

So for those of you wanting to get some pointers on who and what you should be linking in with (with regard to influencing the provision of services for children and young people in your local area) and supporting children and young people to directly influence what’s happening – help is at hand – read on!

The decision-makers need to know what the people (including young people and children) living in an area think of existing services and what changes and developments they would like to see. Services are most effective when the people receiving them are involved in shaping their design and development. The Assembly Government has told all public service providers to consult with service users when planning services.

Communities First action plans provide an ideal opportunity to ensure that the views of children and young people living in disadvantaged areas are represented in the planning process.

If we start at the top…….

Each local authority has to prepare a Community Strategy or Plan to “promote and improve economic, social and environmental well-being of their areas and to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the UK”. They have to work in partnership (you’ll hear that a lot) and bring together people to agree the key priorities for the area and get on and do them! They have to consult with local people (including children and young people).

Next down the line is the Children and Young People’s Framework Plan, which the local Children and Young People’s Framework (another partnership involving the local authority – social services, education, youth services, health services and the voluntary sector, etc.) have to produce. The Children and Young People’s Framework Plan sets out the main things that the Framework Partnerships want to do for children and young people living in the local authority area. At the moment there are two sub-plans, which come under the Children and Young People’s Framework Plan – one for children under 11 (the Children’s Plan) and one for young people aged 11-25 (the Young People’s Plan). These separate plans currently feed into the overall Framework Plan but they are being phased out and will disappear from 2008 and there will be just one Children and Young People’s Plan for each local authority area.

There is also a Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Strategy which the local authority and the local health board share responsibility for putting together which sets out what’s going to be done to make sure that people living in the area enjoy good health.

But back to the Children and Young People’s Framework Plan……this covers all services provided by the local authority and its partners for children and young people up to the age of 25 – so it really is pretty important. The guys (and gals) who put together this plan and set the priorities – have to consult with children and young people in the area and find out what they think of existing services and what changes they would like to see. The Framework Partnership (those guys and gals again) are helped to do this by two more partnerships that report to them. One for children aged 0 –10 (The Children’s Partnership) and one for young people aged 11-25 (The Young People’s Partnership). These three partnerships (marked red in the diagram below) are sometimes called the ‘triangle’ partnerships. In each local authority area, the structure looks something like this:

There are more changes coming down the line and from April 2006, every local authority in Wales has to appoint a lead director (an officer) and a lead member (a councillor) for children and young people’s services. These people are going to be responsible for making sure the partnership planning is given a high priority, and that all the key people are working well together for the benefit of children and young people. Most importantly the Assembly Government is saying that the lead directors and lead members must act as caretakers of the rights of children and young people, ensuring that action is taken to implement commitments to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In addition to this money, the ‘triangle’ Partnerships (those in red) have responsibility for planning the allocation of Cymorth - a sum of money provided by the Assembly Government to support vulnerable children. This year, each of the 22 Children and Young People Framework Partnerships will get a share of nearly £45m. In 2007-8 the Cymorth budget for Wales rises to over £75m.

The amount each Framework Partnership gets depends on a number of things including, the size of the local authority (how many people live there), and how rich or poor they are. The Partnerships decide how they spend this money although the Assembly Government puts out ‘guidance’ telling the Partnerships the sorts of activities and outcomes it is looking for. One of the things the Assembly Government’s guidance says is that some of this Cymorth money should be directed towards providing support to children and young people living in Communities First areas.

Well, as previously mentioned, the Partnerships have a responsibility to involve children and young people; to listen and take into account the views of children and young people (and parents and carers) when putting together their plans. In most areas, some young people are involved in a variety of different ways. Just about all local authorities in Wales have now set up youth forums – some of these youth forums have members who also actually sit on the Young People’s Partnership, others are working toward their own youth assembly or council and meet regularly with Elected Members, senior officers and members of the Partnerships to feedback their views and set out their priorities. Sometimes the youth forums are located within the local authority and others are within the voluntary sector. Youth forums are supported by co-ordinators and undertake a range of participative activity with an agenda developed in response to young people and also the needs of the local authority or funding organisation.

Communities First partnerships may wish to approach any youth forums which exist in their area to explore any potential for working together. Youth forums are generally run on informal lines and include a broad range of young people however, some young people may need support and encouragement to get involved. Outreach work might be available to make contact with young people who are particularly hard to engage.

There’s not so much progress on establishing mechanisms to involve children aged under 11 in all these planning processes but from 2006, every primary and secondary school in Wales will be required to establish and maintain a school council where pupils have a say in the running of their school. School councils already exist in some places. The main focus of the school council will be on matters in the school but there will be potential for children many to get involved in matters affecting their local community and possibly beyond, should the council wish to do so. There may be opportunities for linkages between the school council(s) and with Communities First Partnerships, particularly where a community-focused school is involved.

As you will see elsewhere on the CD rom, there are good examples around of work in Communities First areas to engage children and young people in making improvements to their community. It’s important these examples are shared and between Community First areas but also with others working in your area.

There are lots of potential benefits to collaboration between Communities First; the Children and Young People’s Framework Partnerships; youth forums, school councils and other mechanisms in your area for consulting with children and young people – not least for the children and young people living in Communities First areas, so get on out there, take your ‘map’, navigate your way around and make those links!

If you want more information about the frameworks, plans and partnerships in our area contact your local authority who will be able to help!