Review of Voluntary Sector Organisations
(Community Learning and Development)
Young Scot
11 September 2012
Contents
Contents
Page
1. Introduction
1
2. Context and background
1
3. Key strengths
2
4. How well did Young Scot meet the needs of its stakeholders?
2
5. How effective was Young Scot in key aspects of management?
5
6. How effective was the leadership of Young Scot?
6
7. What is Young Scot’s capacity to improve?
7
8. Main points for action
7
9. What happens next?
7
Appendix 1: Quality indicators used to evaluate Young Scot
8
1.
Introduction
The Scottish Government (SG) commissioned Education Scotland to undertake a
review of Young Scot. Education Scotland and SG agreed the quality and
performance indicators to be used in the review from the framework of indicators
within the HMIE publication How Good Is Our Community Learning and
Development?2 (HGIOCLD?2).
The scoping and fieldwork for the review took place in June 2012. HM Inspectors
interviewed Board members, managers, staff, volunteers, stakeholders and users of
the services. Visits were made to sites where Young Scot is providing direct support
to young people. Inspectors also engaged with many geographically widespread
stakeholders through on-line, telephone and video conference communications.
Questionnaires were completed by a number of partner organisations and interested
parties to give a fuller view of the work of Young Scot.
2.
Context and background
Young Scot is the national youth information and citizenship charity for Scotland. It
works in partnership with young people aged 11–26, giving them access to
information and opportunities to help them make the most of their lives.
It works toward six key strategic outcomes, which are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
a nation of informed young people;
increased opportunities for young people;
increased youth participation levels in projects, activities, and decision-making
processes;
young people as capacity builders and activists;
a step change in the public, media perception and image of young people; and
Scotland as leaders in Europe.
Young Scot works from a headquarters in Edinburgh, although they deliver services
online, in partnerships and through an outreach team. This work includes activities
within all 32 local authorities.
They are financially supported by SG and local authorities and have a number of
funded projects in place developed in partnership with national organisations.
1
3.
Key strengths
The review of Young Scot identified the following strengths.
•
The high and growing number of users accessing services.
•
The motivation and engagement of staff and volunteers.
•
The influence and impact on all local authorities and on the wider international
community.
•
The model of planning for improvement and leadership.
4.
How well did Young Scot meet the needs of its stakeholders?
How well did Young Scot improve its performance?
Young Scot produces an interactive annual report which is upbeat, well presented
using new technology and provides a clear insight into the work of the organisation.
The report confirms the increasing number of young people accessing the range of
services on offer. Key areas including the uptake of the national entitlement
card (NEC) and the use of the Young Scot Extra portal for those aged 16–25 have
had a 15% increase in users in the past year. This wider penetration of the market
has raised the level of awareness of the services and support Young Scot offer. New
media has also led to growth with, for example, a notable increase in referrals to the
Young Scot website via the mobile version of social networking. The more focused
websites and the use of twitter, social networking and new media are helping Young
Scot reach more young people in its work. There have been significant
improvements in Young Scot services for young people from excluded or
disadvantaged groups, though more work remains to be done regarding evidencing
impact.
Young Scot WOW (What’s on Where) has increased opportunities for young people.
The successful links with Volunteer Scotland and the Cashback for Communities
programme have shown a 21% growth in the use of the WOW website. This is
leading to a higher uptake in volunteering activities. The Young Scot Awards
delivered in conjunction with The Sunday Mail have seen an increase in the number
of nominations, reflecting heightened awareness and activity. This has been
enhanced through the recent partnership work with the owners of the major
commercial radio stations in Scotland. Although the range of new media used and
the numbers contacted are increasing, many young people predominantly engage
with Young Scot only through the discount scheme using the NEC. Young Scot are
at the early stages of developing a quality improvement framework which has a
greater focus on evaluating the impact of their information work, rather than uptake
levels. This work is a very positive start in helping evaluate the impact of their wider
work and individual projects.
2
How well did Young Scot impact on participants?
Young Scot supports young people well in the wide range of projects it delivers. For
example, young people engaged in the Youth Ambassador Programme have been
provided with a wide range of opportunities and experiences and have contributed
well to launch events, consultations, award ceremonies and high profile public
events. These activities not only promote their contribution to the community but
enhance the confidence, contacts and life skills of the young people involved. Some
of the positive activities and projects are targeted at particular groups. For example,
Young Scot contributes annually to the Young Carers weekend festival, which brings
information and opportunities to a group of people often excluded from access to
services. The NEC continues to have a high profile and is a well-used resource, with
435,000 users. Many young people use the card for cashless catering in schools, for
proof of age, and in some areas to access local authority services such as leisure
services or libraries.
The Young Scot NEC Rewards platform established in November 2011 is an
effective way to encourage active citizenship by using points as rewards. These
points contribute to the opportunity to access experiences that money cannot buy,
such as work experience in the creative industries or gaining backstage passes to
major events. The rewards encourage the uptake of services, the promotion of
health and contribution to the community. Young people who engage with the
rewards system are encouraged to undertake more activities and accumulate points.
This encouragement to take part in consultations, volunteer or contribute to events is
having a positive impact on the young people concerned. There are some good links
in place with colleges and universities, although more links would help Young Scot
make a greater impact, particularly on the over 16s. This would also help focus the
attention of the over 16s on the range of services beyond the NEC.
The work of the outreach team is very positive. The young people who interact with
the outreach staff have a more thoughtful and motivational experience, often
encouraging them to do more and make a greater contribution to their community.
The outreach team work in a range of contexts, including attending events such as
music festivals, and often engage with the more difficult to reach young people.
The limited capacity of the team is reducing their possible impact.
How well did Young Scot impact on paid and voluntary staff?
Staff are very active in a wide range of internal and external working groups. Health
and wellbeing is a key feature of working at Young Scot, and there is a wide range of
positive activities based around their Healthy Working Lives (HWL) programme.
Involvement in HWL has been motivational for a wide range of staff who feel
confident about progressing to the HWL Gold Award in the next year. Health and
wellbeing interventions have been practical and motivating, including staff awards,
‘fruity Fridays’, staff Olympics and fundraising. Other support activities such as free
financial advice and lunchtime walks help support continued wellbeing. The
employee development and review process is effective and well regarded. Staff
have access to very positive and useful formal and informal training and support.
Young Scot organisational values are very well known to staff, and the competencies
used for recruitment and development are designed with these values in mind. Staff
3
feedback and surveys consistently show high levels of satisfaction and motivation,
and this is recognised by partners and stakeholders. Regular staff consultations and
meetings provide positive, motivating and appropriate opportunity for contributions,
helping staff understand and shape the work of the organisation.
Volunteers for project work are well briefed and supported in their tasks. Many
young people have benefited from support in their volunteering activity and show
increased confidence and employability. This support is well planned and delivered
and the encouragement and support is a central element of what Young Scot do.
Young Scot are considering taking this work further through the use of the Investors
in Volunteers structure.
How well did Young Scot impact on the wider community?
Young Scot work constructively with young people in all 32 local authority areas, with
work in some areas more developed than in others. They share their experiences
nationally and internationally. As an organisation, they are pro-active in helping other
providers to engage better with young people. For example, the National Youth
Information Framework developed by Young Scot and the Scottish Library and
Information Council is used to help partners improve their professional practice
around the provision of youth information at a local and national level. Young Scot
helpfully provides self-assessment tools free on their website to support this. In
another example, the Young Scot toolkit Says Who has been used by local
authorities and their Community Planning partners to support a number of
consultations in aspects of work such as youth services, oral health and alcohol and
drugs, leading to better designed local provision of services. This positive approach
to sharing good practice is having a helpful impact on providers and users of youth
service. The use of locally supported ‘micro-sites’ on the Young Scot website also
allows local partners to provide targeted local information. This has been effective in
allowing young people to get more practical and tailored information on community
activities that they then engage in. In addition, the sharing of their experience
internationally has led to many countries learning from and often copying the
experiences of Young Scot. They are well regarded by international partners and are
one of the leading agencies within the European Youth Card Association, and they
contribute well to international practice.
A significant number of local and regional projects ensure Young Scot have a
positive impact on a very wide range of young people. This array of projects
promotes awareness of opportunity and active participation in their local and national
communities. To continue this work in line with government priorities, there is further
opportunity to enhance the targeting of work to excluded or disadvantaged groups.
Partnership agreements that underpin much of the local work are clear and well
designed. Improvements could be made to ensure the more robust contribution of all
partners to evaluation, as well as planning and delivery.
4
5.
How effective was Young Scot in key aspects of management?
Inclusion, equality and fairness
Young Scot has a clear commitment to embedding excellent equalities practice in
what it does, and this is demonstrated well through its All In project. This
commitment is clear in the behaviour and work of staff and volunteers in all their
projects and activities. For example, within the All In project, young people act as
expert inspectors and carry out audits of inclusiveness and accessibility of its
resources and services. All In has been a very successful initiative, leading to a
strong sense of the importance of the work and leading to changes in how Young
Scot work, although the pace of change suggests that it should be revisited to look at
the range of new work and services. Strong partnerships with a wide range of other
organisations such as Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transexual (LGBT) Scotland have
led to joint work to promote equalities. For example, with LGBT Scotland, Young
Scot worked on a conference to address gender stereotyping and homophobia. This
work with national agencies has helped raise awareness with a significant number of
young people. Young Scot have actively supported smaller projects and groups such
as the Central African Union. This small project based in Falkirk and Stirling works
with young refugees and asylum seekers. It has helped ensure that these young
people settle well into their communities and are at less risk of being marginalised or
unemployed. This partnership work has been very successful in ensuring
consistency of message, and making an impact on a wide range of young people.
Young Scot have been pro-active in identifying and challenging difficulties for their
client group. For example, they worked to support the National Youth Commission
on Alcohol. Youth Commissioners were recruited through open recruitment,
encouraging applications from those in typically marginalised or disadvantaged
groups and this resulted in young people from varied backgrounds being appointed.
These individuals have remained with the project over one year on and contribute
well to the work. In partnership with the Royal National Institute for Blind People the
Haggeye project was developed. This project was carried out to ensure that services
and support were appropriate for those with visual impairment. The positive way the
work was planned, the support given to the young people, and the clear and quick
actions taken to respond to the feedback highlight the importance of equality to
Young Scot. The successful and helpful work on inclusion could be further enhanced
through the development of a clearer strategy making more formal links with other
agencies. This may help provide a useful overview of areas where more work might
be needed, for example in literacy and numeracy.
Participation of service users and other stakeholders
Young people are involved at Advisory Forum and Board level directly in decision
making. The Advisory Board is a useful and clear way of involving partner and
stakeholder groups in influencing the strategic direction and delivery of Young Scot
services. Although there is currently good representation of users on the Board, this
might be consolidated through building that requirement more explicitly into the
guidelines that govern representation. There are many examples at a practical level
of young people being directly involved in decision making. Key groups and panels
covering areas such as the Young Scot Awards and Creative Enterprise Fund
5
Committee are significantly influenced by service users. The All In project is another
example where service users were central to auditing services and determining what
improvements or changes could be made.
Feedback from users is collected widely and is a strong mechanism for influencing
the work of Young Scot. Local Authority Dialogue Youth Cluster Meetings are used
to share good practice and to take feedback from users on improving services.
Focus groups and questionnaires are used well to influence both minor
improvements, and where necessary, complete changes in approaches to services.
For example, the Young Scot Rewards programme was co-designed after a thorough
consultation process involving over 500 young people. Young Scot have identified
that there is potential to step beyond thorough consultation to the co-design of new
services involving users.
Operational planning
Operational planning is built upon strong links with local authorities, clear strategic
priorities and reflection on practice. Strong partnership approaches across national
agencies working with young people make the best use of resources and expertise.
This partnership work and sharing of information ensures planning takes account of
the work of other agencies. The six strategic outcomes help staff and stakeholders
to have a clearer focus on the key priorities of the organisation. These strategic
outcomes link directly to annual project workplans and individual workplans. The
processes of staff monitoring and support on their planned work link well with wider
project and operational planning. Staff understand the values of the organisation and
their involvement in planning is effective. Risk assessment is effective and is widely
understood.
A quality improvement programme has been introduced, with well-informed plans for
improvement being developed. There is very good tracking and monitoring of activity
across the organisation, however, further work now needs to be embedded to
increase the focus on impact rather than activity. The recently established cross
team evaluation champions group is working well to help focus the judgement of their
work around impact rather than activity, although this work is at an early stage of
development.
6.
How effective was the leadership of Young Scot?
The Board are focused well on governance issues, and are appropriately supported
by an Advisory Forum. The Board membership reflects the depth and breadth of
experience needed to direct the work of Young Scot. The Board has a
well-established self-assessment process to help reflect on improving its work. The
Advisory Forum allows stakeholders to have a clearer influence on the priorities of
the organisation.
The Chief Executive and Young Scot staff have a good reputation and high credibility
with key stakeholders and organisations such as COSLA and SOLACE. Senior staff
from Young Scot meet regularly with other national agencies such as YouthLink
Scotland and The Scottish Youth Parliament to ensure effective partnership
6
approaches. The strong engagement of stakeholders in consultation and planning
has ensured a wide understanding of the work of Young Scot and a clear
commitment to it. The Chief Executive is recognised internally and externally for
promoting creativity and innovation, and contributes nationally and internationally to
developing good practice. Staff, partners and stakeholders report positively about
the open and motivating style of leadership within Young Scot.
7.
What is Young Scot’s capacity to improve?
The Board, Advisory Board, staff and stakeholders have a very strong commitment to
the values of the organisation. Young Scot work well with other stakeholders and
national agencies to ensure planning is robust and coordinated. Planning and
monitoring of work is effective. Improvements in the planning process currently being
implemented will further enhance the focus on the impact of the work. The
evaluation working group is developing an improved framework for evaluating the
difference the work of the organisation is making. Good use of feedback on services
and wider questionnaires such as the Being Young In Scotland survey helps ensure
that services are well designed to meet the needs of users effectively.
The strong engagement of users and use of new technology have underpinned
growing engagement with young people. The developing focus on the impact of
work rather than the level of activity, and the growing interest in the impact on
particular groups is helping ensure the right services are delivered to the right people.
This work and the strength of leadership give a high level of confidence in Young
Scot’s ability to deliver a positive and improving service for its users.
8.
Main points for action
Education Scotland recommends that Young Scot should take action to address the
following main point for action.
•
9.
Staff and partners should continue work together to increase the volume of
activity and quality of impact on participants.
What happens next?
Education Scotland will take no further action in relation to this positive report.
Colleagues in Scottish Government will continue to monitor progress in relation to
their grant funding.
Dr John Laird
Managing Inspector
Education Scotland
7
Appendix 1:
Quality indicators used to evaluate Young Scot
HM Inspectors use performance measures and quality indicators when making
judgements in their reviews of national voluntary organisations. The quality
indicators used were selected from those published in June 2006 in the publication
HGIOCLD?2. This publication is available on the website
www.educationscotland.gov.uk.
Improvements in performance
Impact on participants
Impact on the wider community
Impact on paid and voluntary staff
Inclusion, equality and fairness
Participation of service users and stakeholders
Operational planning
Leadership and direction
8
good
very good
very good
excellent
very good
very good
very good
excellent
This report uses the following word scale to make clear judgements made by
inspectors.
excellent
very good
good
satisfactory
weak
unsatisfactory
outstanding, sector leading
major strengths
important strengths with some areas for improvement
strengths just outweigh weaknesses
important weaknesses
major weaknesses
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Crown Copyright 2012
Education Scotland