July 2016

 

Dear Colleague

 

Inquiry into Youth Work

 

The National Assembly for Wales’ Children, Young People and Education Committee is undertaking an inquiry into Youth Work.

 

The overall aim of this ‘snapshot’ inquiry is to review the effectiveness of Welsh Government’s strategy and policy in respect of youth work. To assist with its inquiry, the Committee would welcome your views on any or all of the following points:

 

§  Young people’s access to youth work services, for example:

 

o   Levels of provision across Wales and any regional variation;

o   Issues relating to access for specific groups of young people e.g. language, disability, rurality, ethnicity.

 

§  How effective the Welsh Government strategy and policy on youth work is, for example:

 

o   Specific youth work policy and strategy such as ‘The Youth Work offer’; The Wales Charter for Youth Work; The National Youth Work Strategy for Wales 2014 to 2018;

o   Welsh Government departmental responsibilities and whether there is a cross-departmental and co-ordinated approach to support youth work provision.

 

 

 

 

§  Funding for youth work (Local Authority, Welsh Government, European, Third Sector).

 

§  Any other issues you consider relevant to the Inquiry (for example: workforcerelated issues; the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales; buildings and infrastructure; youth work in schools; transport issues; access to digital technology; Welsh Government’s consultation on proposals to register and inspect some out of school education settings).

 

[Note: This inquiry is not seeking evidence on local and national youth participation structures, which the Committee regards as an important issue and which will require further consideration within its work programme.]

 

Invitation to contribute to the inquiry

 

The Committee would like to invite you to submit written evidence to assist with the inquiry.  General information regarding consultation procedures, which should be considered carefully before submitting evidence to the Committee, is set out in the Annex. In particular, we would welcome your views on the questions listed on the attached form, which should be used for submitting your evidence.

 

In addition to this general call for evidence, there will also be a separate consultation opportunity aimed at gathering the views of young people, which will be circulated over the summer.

 

If you have any queries, please contact Marc Wyn Jones, Committee Clerk on 0300 200 6565.

 

Yours faithfully

Lynne Neagle AC / AM
Cadeirydd / Chair

 


 

Annex

Submitting Written Evidence to the Committee

Disclosure of Information

1.  The Assembly’s policy on disclosure of informationis available; please ensure that you have considered these details carefully before submitting information to the Committee. Alternatively a hard copy of this policy can be requested by contacting the Clerk.

Submitting evidence

2.  If you wish to submit evidence, please send an electronic copy of your submission form to SeneddCYPE@assembly.wales.

Alternatively, you send it to:

Sarah Bartlett, Deputy Clerk,
Children, Young People and Education Committee
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay, CF99 1NA.

3.  Submissions should arrive by 9 September 2016.  It may not be possible to take into account responses received after this date.

4.  When preparing your submission, please keep the following in mind:

 

Guidance for witnesses providing written evidence for committees

5.  The Assembly is committed to providing accessible information to the widest audience possible.  This short guide is to assist witnesses who produce written information for committees.  This will enable the Assembly to provide information submitted by third parties in an accessible manner.

 

 

·                     Use plain English and plain Welsh – avoid unnecessary jargon.

·                     Use a minimum of font size 12.

·                     A clear sans serif typeface, such as Lucida Sans. 

·                     Do not have writing over graphics, pictures or watermarks.

·                     Colours and contrast - writing should have maximum contrast to the background: dark on light, light on dark.

·                     Do not use block capitals, and minimise use of bold, underlining and italics.

·                     If you wish to refer to a published document, please include a hyperlink to that document.

 

6.  Where possible, information should be provided in Microsoft Word (and on the form provided) to ensure accessibility.  Where a scan or Pdf is provided, particularly in the case of signed letters or tables of information, the original Word document should be provided along with it.

General

7.  The Committee welcomes evidence from those with an interest in this subject.  If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please provide a brief description of the role of your organisation.  The Committee welcomes contributions in English and Welsh and we ask organisations with Welsh Language policies / schemes to provide bilingual submissions, in line with their public information policies.

8.  The Committee will consider responses to the written consultation and hold oral evidence sessions during specified dates.

9.  For your information, the Committee has invited submissions from a wide range of organisations, a list of which is available on request.  A copy of this letter has also been placed on the National Assembly’s website with an open invitation to submit views.  However, the Committee would be grateful if you could forward a copy of the consultation letter and Annex to any individuals or organisations that you believe might wish to contribute to the inquiry.