Press Release - Department of Education and Skills - Connexions
Service for all Young People
31 March 2004
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported
on the Connexions Service, concluding that it is a radical change
in the delivery of advice and guidance to young people and is on
target to meeting its major objective of reducing the proportion of
16- to 18-year olds not in education, employment or training by 10
per cent by November 2004. Achieving the 10 per cent target may
result in short term economic benefits of £180 million and longer
term benefits of over £1.4 billion. The report examines ways in
which Connexions is working well and identifies several issues
which should be addressed to further improve the service.
The Connexions Service, part of the Department for Education and
Skills, was launched nationally on a phased basis in April 2001
with an annual budget of £450 million and is delivered through a
network of 47 Connexions Partnerships. It aims to help all young
people make informed choices and ease the transition into adult
life. The target to reduce the proportion of young people not in
education, employment or training by 10 per cent between November
2002 and November 2004 is made more stretching by the fact that
Connexions partnerships are actively seeking to identify previously
unknown cases of young people who are not in education, employment
or training. Connexions has significantly improved the quality of
information available. The NAO found that, as of November 2003, the
proportion of young people not in education, employment or training
had been reduced by eight per cent where the service had been
established the longest. Nationally a three per cent reduction had
been achieved by this date and the Connexions Partnerships were
confident that the 10 per cent target will be achieved by November
2004.
The Connexions Service is well-regarded by its partners and
clients. The majority of 16,000 young people surveyed who had been
in contact with a personal adviser said that Connexions had a
positive impact on their lives, with 68 per cent saying it had
helped them make a decision about their future. Ofsted carries out
inspections of Connexions partnerships and has rated the quality of
service as good. The NAO found that Connexions was working well in
partnership with other organisations.
There is a risk, however, that Connexions may not be reaching
all of the young people it is meant to assist. Far fewer Personal
Advisers are in post than had been originally envisaged, a
consequence of Connexions operating with less resources than
originally anticipated. Connexions is meant to provide a broad
range of advice and services to all young people; however, it does
not always cater for the needs of young people who are not at risk
of dropping out of education and training. Although the majority of
Personal Advisers already hold professional qualifications, at the
time of the study, only half had started their Connexions specific
training. There is also a lack of clarity regarding the respective
roles of schools and the Connexions Service in providing careers
advice to young people.
The NAO found that in order to improve the service:
- Partnerships should be encouraged to set local and regional
targets for reducing the number of young people not in education,
employment or training. These targets would feed into the national
target and would allow partnerships to be more responsive to local
conditions.
- The Department needs to set a clear target date for the
majority of Personal Advisers to have completed Connexions-specific
training.
- Better analysis of the results of interventions is required so
that resources can be allocated more effectively.
- The Department needs to develop performance indicators for the
full range of services provided by Connexions partnerships to
ensure that all young people get the support they need.
- The Department needs to ensure that schools have the capacity
to work with Connexions to provide support for all young people and
that school staff are fully aware of the services offered by
Connexions.
- The Department needs to revise the current year-on-year funding
approach so that partnerships have greater certainty over the
budget they will receive over a three year period – enabling them
to take a more strategic approach.
Sir John Bourn said:
"In a relatively short period of time the Connexions
Service has made significant progress towards reducing the
proportion of young people not in education, employment or
training. The costs of not tackling this issue are huge, both to
society and to the individuals affected. Connexions is providing
valuable services to help young people make important life
decisions but more can be done to ensure that all young people
obtain the support they need and my report makes recommendations to
help build on the very good results achieved to date."
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website,
which is now at www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be
obtained from The Stationery Office
on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 800 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 28/04
All enquiries to Bill Schaper, NAO Press Office:
Tel: 020 7798 7335
Mobile: 07795 120838