ACTIVITY AGREEMENT GUIDANCE

2016-17 (Updated)

Contents / Page
Context
  • Opportunities for All
  • What / Who is this Guidance for?
  • What is an Activity Agreement?
/ 1
Eligibility / 2
Assessment of Need / 2
Duration / 3
Progression / 3
Early Intervention / 3
Learning Activity / 3
Youth Employment Activity Plans (YEAPS) / 4
The Trusted Professional / 4
Equalities / 5
Management Information / 6
Data Recording and Collection
  • On-flow Definition
  • Off-flow Definition
/ 6
Quality Assurance and Accreditation / 7
Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)
  • Household Income Thresholds
  • Exceptions to the Financial Assessment Process
  • Welfare Benefits
  • Other Awards
  • Child Benefit Legislation
  • Universal Credit
  • Duration of Allowance
  • Making Payments
  • Information Management
  • Re-assessments
/ 7
Annex A – A Model for Shared Common Assessment of Needs / 11
Annex B – High-Risk Groups of Young People / 13
Annex C – Opportunities which might form part of an Activity Agreement / 14

Context

1.Opportunities for All is the evolution of the More Choices More Chances Strategy to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training. It pulls together key Scottish Government policies– Curriculum for Excellence, Raising Attainment, GIRFEC (CYP Act), Developing the Young Workforce - into a coherent single focus; and underpins the Scottish Government’s Youth Employment Strategy to develop Scotland’s young workforce through improved vocational pathways.

2.It is the Scottish Government’s commitment to an offer of an appropriate place in further learning or training for all 16-19 year olds not already in education, training or employment (NEET) to develop the skills they need to get a job. It builds on the planning and offer in place for young people before leaving school. Activity Agreements (AA) are a key component of the Opportunities for All offer.

What / Who is this Guidance for?

3.This Guidance sets out the key principles for the continued development and delivery of Activity Agreements in Scotland. It explains what an Activity Agreement is, the context for delivering Activity Agreements, the principles that should be applied, and sets out some key operational guidelines.

4.Itprovides the basis forlocal authority operational delivery. Its’ aim is to support the delivery of Activity Agreements as an Opportunities for All offer and is subject to regular review.

5.The Guidance ensures a close alignment to the principles of Getting It Right For Every Child and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Where a young person already has a support plan in place, the contents of the Activity Agreement, to be agreed with the young person, should then flow naturally from, and form part of, the support plan.

6.The continued development and delivery of Activity Agreements offers an opportunity to make this range of services more coherent, and to consider the way those services are funded.

What is an Activity Agreement?

7.Activity Agreements area formal agreement, between a young person and an advisor (Trusted Professional), that the young person will participate in a programme of tailored learning and activity based on an assessment of their immediate and future skills needs.

8.They must take account of young people’s previous experiences, both in school and outside; they must recognise the wide range of influences on vulnerable young people’s lives; and they must form a clear pathway towards more formal engagement with learning or employment. This will require those involved in delivering and supporting young people undertaking Activity Agreements to have an understanding of the local labour market and of the expectations of employers. The contents of an Activity Agreements should straddle Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the Strategic Skills Pipeline.

9.The Activity Agreement model can be found at

10.For some young people, participation in an Activity Agreement will be a first step towards further learning which will include qualifications; this should be reflected in the Agreement where the young person has identified a clear goal. The Agreement should reflect, and build on, young people’s previous experiences – both within and outwith school

11.The success of Activity Agreements is judged by the extent to which they assist young people to progress into, and sustain, further learning, trainingand employment. Those young people who undertake an Activity Agreement should be assessed as capable of making this progression with the help and support provided by Trusted Professionals on completion of the Activity Agreement.

Eligibility

12.Activity Agreements are not for everyone. They are specifically foryoung people who:

  • age 16 –19 (up to their 20th birthday) are not in education, employment or training and who have been assessed as requiring the intensive support needed to (re)engage through a tailored learning approach offered by an AA in order to progress onto further learning or trainingand develop the skills needed to enter the labour market.
  • are leaving school without an Opportunities for All offer in placeand for whom an Activity Agreement has been identified as the most appropriate post-school intervention, based on an assessment of their learning and skills needs.

13.Given the other interventions from other agencies such as DWP for young people 18 and over, the main focus of Activity Agreements should be on 16 and 17 year olds.

Assessment of Need

14.It will be important to recognise that the level and intensity of support needed by young people will vary. Young people’s participation in Activity Agreementsshould be based on an assessment of their learning and skills needs:

  • which identifies their current skills and experience; and
  • which identifies what is required to encourage them to engage in,develop learning and training skills, and moves them towards further learning, training or employment.

15.Opportunities for All Co-ordinators should ensure a common process for this assessment across thelocal authority partnership area. While some young people are at higher risk of disengaging from learning, training or employment post-16, participation on Activity Agreements should be based on assessment of their individuallearning and skills needs – not assumptions based on other factors in their lives.

16.The assessmentprocess requires robust protocols for sharing information about young people’s needs and interests, so the services they access can be appropriately tailored. Local Authorities should ensure that the assessment process fully assesses the learning and skills needs of the young person and meets the requirements of Activity Agreement delivery. Annex A provides an example ofa needs-led assessment process.

Duration

17.The assessment of a young person’s needs should determine the minimum requirements for taking part in an Activity Agreement. There is no minimum amount of engagement required for a young person to participate in an Activity Agreement.

18.Within this flexibility, there must be a clear focus on the young person’s progression towards more formal learning, training or employment. This carries an expectation that a young person’s participation in Activity Agreements might evolve or become more demanding resulting in longer periods of participationas they progress.

19.Likewise, there is no maximum amount of time for which a young person may participate in an Activity Agreement. For some young people an Activity Agreement will be a short, focused intervention which helps them to become ready for more formal learning or employment. For others however, a longer timeframe is needed.

Progression

20.It is expected that once a young person can maintain almost full time hours (more than 16 hours) they are encouraged into other more appropriate provision at that time. Expectations on progress should be set with young people through the Agreement.

Early Intervention

21.The Opportunities for All Co-ordinator and Activity Agreement Trusted Professionals should work in partnership with schools to identify, and engage with, those young people who would benefit from an Activity Agreement, on leaving school, to ensure they are not lost at point of transition. This engagement and planning for participation on an Activity Agreement should start no earlier than 6 months prior to the young person’s leaving date.

22.Where young people pre-16 are not attending school, or are attending special schools or other specialist provision, it is more likely that they will not make a direct transition to a formal learning option post-16. Local planning should therefore have a particular focus on these young people. Annex Bprovides a non-exhaustive, and non-prescriptive, list of factors which make young people more likely to disengage from learning.

23.Opportunities for All Co-ordinators should, using established networks and mechanisms to build capacity,encourage schools to take forward Developing the Young Workforce Recommendation 13which recommends “Building on existing good practice, local authorities should adapt the activity agreement approach for those aged under 16 who have disengaged from education or at high risk of doing so. This should focus on re-engagement with mainstream pathways”.

Learning Activity

24.Activity Agreements should continue to focus on ensuring that Curriculum for Excellence entitlements are met for those young people who, post-16, learn in an alternative, community or third sector setting. The activities a young person participates in should provide the opportunity to develop their skills for learning, life and work, with a focus on soft and core skills including literacy, numeracy, and health and well-being.

25.Community learning and development (CLD) opportunities in both the public and Third Sector, as well as volunteering opportunities, will be key aspects of the offer to young people. Developing an understanding of the world of work is an important element of Activity Agreements; this requires a focus on the local labour market and the expectations of employers.

26.Young people may undertake work tasters as part of their Activity Agreement and these should not be confused with work placements which are more formal and for longer periods of time.

27.Annex C provides a more detailed, though non-exhaustive, list of the types of opportunities which might be included in an Activity Agreement; this is intended as a guide for planning purposes rather than being prescriptive.

29.Where no existing options are suitable, or available, for a young person, the Trusted Professional should use the detailed information they have on a young person’s learning and skills needs to inform the commissioning of specific activity for that young person.

29.In line with the Opportunities for All commitment, the responsibility for ensuring there are sufficient, timely and appropriate learning and training opportunities across the strategic skills pipeline lies with:

  • Local Authorities, including More Choices More Chances/Opportunities for All Partnerships, schools
  • Community Learning and Development;
  • Local Employability Partnerships;
  • Community Planning Partnerships;
  • Skills Development Scotland;
  • The Scottish Funding Council - colleges and universities; and
  • Third Sector training providers and support agencies.

Youth Employment Activity Plans (YEAPS)

30.Local partnerships should use their Youth Employment Activity Plans as the basis for ensuring sufficient learning and training opportunities. In planning and commissioning provision, partners should:

  • consider a range of information to ensure that sufficient provision is available and responds to and meets the needs, aspirations/ambitions of both young people and employers;
  • ensure there are sufficient and suitable progression routes for those young people who have taken part in Activity Agreements and are ready to move on to the next stage in developing their learning and employability skills, when they need it.

The Trusted Professional

31.A strong relationship with a Trusted Professional, acting in an advisory and guidance role, is a critical element of the Activity Agreement model. Evidence suggests that this advisory role is central to a young person’s participation on an Activity Agreement.

32.Supporting young people to engage, consider and sustain in further learning, training and ultimately secure employment, will often require intensive advice and guidance. That advice must come from someone who:

  • has, or can build, a strong relationship with a young person;
  • has an awareness of the learning and support opportunities available locally;
  • has an awareness of the local labour market;
  • can act quickly at point of contact with a young person;
  • is able to deal with a range of young people, many of whom will display challenging behaviour or have complex needs;
  • has credibility with the organisations who work with a young person;
  • has the ability to negotiate and advocate on behalf of the young person;
  • takes a solution-focused, non-judgemental approach.

33.Many young people entering an Activity Agreement will already have established links and relationships with agencies. In some cases these may be simply with the universal education service. Others will have more complex needs, with inputs from, for example, the NHS, social work, or youth justice workers. Where there is multi-agency intervention and support, the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act2014 points to the identification of a Lead Professional/ Named Person to ensure action is co-ordinated and followed through.

34.There are a wide range of agencies and partners who have a role in supporting vulnerable young people, and may carry out this advisory role depending on the needs of the young person. Activity Agreements work best where those professionals who are fulfilling the advisory/Trusted Professional role are able to access accurate information about the range of learning opportunities and support – in the public, private and third sector – which are available in the local area.

35.Local Opportunities for All Partnerships should identify the likely workforce in each local authority area who will carry out this advisory role. It is important to ensure the Trusted Professional role is carried out in a way that reflects the principles of Getting It Right For every Child and builds on other approaches. All partners involved in the delivery of Activity Agreements have a duty to undertake the Trusted Professional role where appropriate, and this should not specifically fall to one organisation unless this is the process agreed by the Opportunities for All partnership. Local partners will likely include local authority CLD Youth Work Services, Third Sector organisations and Volunteer Centres who work with and support vulnerable young people.

36.Nationally, Skills Development Scotland has an important role to play, both in terms of its work coach service – critical to providing advice and guidance to vulnerable young people – and its capacity-building role. At a local level, Skills Development Scotland should agree with local partnerships exactly how their coaches will contribute to the delivery of Activity Agreements.

37.This partnership approach is likely to have significant CPD implications for those workers involved in carrying out the Trusted Professional role.

Equalities

38.In delivering Activity Agreements to young people age 16 to 19, Local Authorities should be mindful that no one should be denied the opportunity because of their race or ethnicity, their disability, their gender, sexual orientation or religion.

Management Information

39.It is important to ensure that, when young people are moving between different learning provision, they are not lost. This means that, as well as a common process for assessing young people’s needs, there should be a system for ensuring that information from existing systems is drawn on to support a young person’s participation in an Activity Agreement, and for appropriately reflecting their participation and progression. An important part of this will be monitoring young people’s progression when they leave an Activity Agreement; this will require close working with other learning providers. Skills Development Scotland is the data hub for information about young people and as such should be kept up to date on young people participating on an Activity Agreement.

Data Recording and Collection

40.Young people undertaking an Activity Agreement are recorded as participating in learning and training within the new Participation Measure (andin a positive destination for the purposes of the School Leaver Destination statistics). For statistical purposes the definition of an Activity Agreement is as follows:

‘An Activity Agreement is an agreement between a young person and an advisor that the young person will take part in a programme of learning and activity which helps them to become ready for formal learning or employment. This will form a key element of the senior phase of Curriculum for Excellence for some of our most vulnerable young people.’

41.Activity Agreements status should only be recorded when a young person has agreed either verbally or in writing to the offer of an Activity Agreement. The local authority should notify SDS that a young person has agreed either verbally or in writing to the offer of an Activity Agreement within 5 working days of this happening. Data received from local authorities regarding the status of a young person should be entered onto CSS within 5 working days of receipt.

42.Local Authority partners have the responsibility to maintain records of customers participating in their provision. Opportunities for All Co-ordinators should be able to confirm information about those who start and finish Activity Agreements via local contacts.