McMahon — ‘No change not an option’

COUNCIL leader Jim McMahon

OLDHAM Council leader Councillor Jim McMahon addresses youth provision across the borough in light of criticism of council plans to ‘outsource’ services.

WITH £141 million in cuts already made to the council budget since 2009 — and a further £60 million to find by 2016-7 — it is clear that every aspect of the council will change.

We’ve worked extremely hard to protect local people from the impact of those cuts and, to be honest, you’d probably admit to not yet having really noticed that £141 million has been taken away.

But everyone needs to be prepared for what might now come because the easier savings have long gone.

I should say right now that looking to make savings in the youth service is not something we are doing because we don’t value it. Far from it. We know that for many young people the support they get from our youth workers is an important part of their lives.

Operationally our youth service is split into three main components:

::Static youth service (or sessional services), where young people will turn up to a centre and take part in activities.

::Detached youth workers, who go out on to the streets and work to support, challenge and divert young people into positive activities.

::The support we provide to Oldham Youth Council, schools swimming, study support and outdoor education.

There is a danger though — given some of the headlines that have already appeared — that you might think our plans are somehow an attempt to just create one youth centre for the whole of Oldham. That is not the case.

The reality is the vast majority of youth activities that take place across our borough aren’t provided by the council at all. They are often provided by the community itself: through uniformed groups, faith groups, sports clubs and hobby groups.

We also need to be mindful here about the important role of parents and extended family in supporting young people too.

Looking ahead, we want to continue to work with communities and partners to develop a local youth service offer in the future.

We can’t assume that we know best what people need — and we also can’t assume that a universal service is addressing the diverse needs of our borough’s young people.

If services can be delivered differently or refocused to reduce duplication — and to make them more responsive to local need — then we should consider those options seriously.

But we are also not looking for quick fixes. The proposal we are consulting on here is to extend our contracts with both Mahdlo and Oldham Community Leisure to broaden the type and quantity of youth services they deliver.

Part of this proposal would see elements of the Youth Service being brought together: including 12-month secondments to Mahdlo of District Youth Development staff and a 12-month pilot also seconding the Detached Youth Team to Mahdlo.

The proposal also outlines plans that would see the School Swimming Service transfer to Oldham Community Leisure (OCL) and the creation of an alternative delivery vehicle for the Sport Development Service.

This would be in the form of a mutual which could be affiliated to OCL.

Another part of the proposal is to bring together our youth work support for the Youth Council and the Looked After Children Council.

Looking ahead, is this all going to mean fundamental change for youth services?

Well, for staff and volunteers, yes — things will be very different.

For young people it will also be different. But whether it will be better or worse will depend on how young people use the range of services on offer today.

What I am clear about is that this is a way to ensure we still have a youth service.

If at the end of all this we can stand up and say we have a good offer in Oldham then we’ll have achieved what many other councils would kill for in the current financial climate.

Not to change is simply not an option. But if we genuinely take our role as a cooperative council seriously — and we work as one community to solve the issues affecting the borough — we can achieve far more together than if we continue to protect our own institutions or traditional ways of working.

I would urge you to join in the conversation that is taking place right now about the Youth Service and all of our budget proposals at www.old ham.gov.uk/letstalkbudget.