Sections 68 to 79: Provision of support services
68.Sections 68 to 79 give effect to proposals set out in the Green Paper Youth Matters http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/youthmatters/ (July 2005) to devolve the responsibility for delivering the service known as “Connexions” to local education authorities. The funding for the Connexions service transferred to local education authorities in April 2008. The sections replace sections 114 to 121 of the 2000 Act, but transfer responsibility for provision of the services from the Secretary of State to local education authorities and extend them to adults aged 20 to 24 with learning difficulties. Amendments consequential on these changes are made in Schedule 1 to the Act.
69.Section 68 places a duty on local education authorities in England to make available to young people and relevant young adults for whom they are responsible such services as they consider appropriate to encourage, enable or assist them to engage and remain in education or training. A relevant young adult is a person aged 20 to 24 years who has a learning difficulty within the meaning of subsections (5) and (6) of section 13 of the 2000 Act. The services made available will continue to be known as Connexions services. This section also provides for local education authorities to have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State, and places them under a duty to comply with any directions given by the Secretary of State relating to the exercise of their functions under section 68.
70.Section 68 provides that a local education authority can fulfil the duty to make services available either by providing them itself or by making arrangements with others, which could include other local education authorities. In addition, subsection (5) provides that the duty on a local education authority to make services available to a young person or relevant young adult for whom it is responsible does not apply if another local education authority is also responsible for the person and services are actually being provided to the person by that other authority or under arrangements made by it. Taken together with the definition of which persons are in the scope of a local education authority’s responsibility in section 78(2), section 68(5) addresses the situation where two local education authorities are both potentially under a duty to make services available to the same person.
71.Section 69 gives the Secretary of State the power to give directions about matters specified in the section to a local education authority relating to the exercise of its duty to make support services available for effective participation (subsection (1) of section 68). Directions may specify the services to be made available to young people and relevant young adults (for example, it may be that directions are given about services for young people who are not in education, employment or training). Directions may also specify the descriptions of individuals who may be involved in ways specified in the direction in providing services. This may include specifying minimum qualifications for personal advisers. In addition, directions may require the local education authority to secure that it or its service providers co-operate with the provider of the national telephone helpline and internet-based service for young people, currently known as Connexions Direct (provided under section 74). Local education authorities may be directed to cooperate with those exercising functions or providing services relating to social security or connected with finding suitable employment, education or training, such as JobCentre Plus. Directions may also be given about the use of the Connexions brand, and may impose requirements as to record keeping and the provision of information. Record keeping requirements may include requirements for authorities and their Connexions service providers to maintain a Connexions database so as to help service providers offer the right support services to young people (under Part 2) and support for local education authorities in promoting fulfilment of the duty to participate (under Chapter 2 of Part 1). Directions about the provision of information would include directing authorities to ensure that, where there was a change in statutory responsibility for the provision of Connexions services in respect of a person, information would speedily pass from the earlier authority or its service provider to the authority that was now responsible or its service provider.
72.Subsection (2) allows a direction to require a local education authority to exercise its functions under section 68 in such a way that Connexions services are provided in conjunction with other services or the exercise of other functions specified in the direction. Subsection (3) makes clear that the other functions or services specified in the direction need not relate to education or training and may be functions or services relating to social security. These subsections give the Secretary of State the power to direct local education authorities to ensure that the person providing Connexions services also carries out social security functions under relevant powers contained in social security legislation. Under arrangements made with the Secretary of State, Connexions service providers currently conduct work focused interviews for 16 and 17 year olds within the meaning given in sections 2 and 2AA of the Social Security Administration Act 1992. The interviews aim to enable participation in education or training and focus on training or educational opportunities. The intention is that the direction-making power may be used to ensure that the current arrangements will continue. It is also intended that it may also be used in the future in relation to functions within the Welfare Reform Act 2007 such as:
work focused interviews within the meaning of section 12 of that Act;
work related activity within the meaning of section 13 of that Act; and
action plans within the meaning of section 14 of that Act,
with the aim of helping the person into employment or keeping him or her in employment.
73.Section 70 gives local education authorities the power to enter into arrangements made with them by other local education authorities for the provision of Connexions services (see section 68(1)). It also gives local education authorities the power to provide, secure the provision, or participate in the provision of Connexions services other than in respect of persons for whom they are responsible, including persons from other areas.
74.Section 71 allows the Connexions service provider, as part of the Connexions service, to enter into a learning and support agreement with a young person aged 13 to 19. This includes a young person who is not participating, or at risk of not participating, in education or training as required by section 2.
75.A learning and support agreement comprises agreement by a young person to comply with certain requirements, and agreement by the Connexions service provider to provide specified support (which could, for example, include financial support or an incentive payment) on condition that the young person complies with those requirements. It does not amount to a legally binding contract. The process of entering into a learning and support agreement involves identification and assessment of need, and the young person must be involved in negotiating the agreement.
76.Section 45(5) requires a local education authority to ensure that Connexions support has been offered to a young person to whom Part 1 applies before taking enforcement action for failure to comply with the duty imposed by section 2. Entering into a learning and support agreement is an example of the kind of support that might be offered in this situation.
77.Section 72 sets out the information that educational institutions must provide to persons involved in the provision of Connexions services to help ensure that all young people or relevant young adults are offered support appropriate to their circumstances and, in particular, that any not in education, employment or training are identified and offered prompt support. The section also sets out what information a pupil or student (or their parent, where the person is younger than 16) can instruct not to be provided.
78.The purpose of section 73 is to allow Connexions services to be provided at schools and other educational institutions that young people attend. It places a duty on the responsible persons for educational institutions to allow Connexions service providers reasonable access to pupils and students and to provide reasonable facilities on the institution’s premises for providing services, when requested to do so by a Connexions service provider.
79.Section 74 gives the Secretary of State the power to provide or secure the provision of remote Connexions services on a national basis, for example, through the internet and other electronic media, for all 13-19 year olds and for “relevant young adults”.
80.Section 75 places a duty on the Chief Inspector to inspect and report on Connexions services (provided under sections 68 and 74), when requested to do so by the Secretary of State. In addition, the section gives the Chief Inspector the power to carry out such other inspections of the provision of those services as the Chief Inspector thinks fit.
81.Subsection (5) gives the person carrying out or participating in the inspection the necessary powers concerning rights of access to the premises and records of Connexions service providers. Subsection (6) provides the Chief Inspector with the power to report on and publish his findings. Subsection (7) makes it a criminal offence for anyone to wilfully obstruct an inspection.
82.Under section 76, social security information may be supplied by the Secretary of State (or a person providing services to the Secretary of State), to a local education authority or other person involved in the provision of Connexions services for young people, for the purposes of the provision of those services. The section sets out under what circumstances further disclosure of this information is permissible, under what circumstances it is a criminal offence and the penalty that may be imposed. Information may only be supplied in respect of young people, not relevant young adults, because the concern is to ensure that Connexions services are aware of all young people who may not be in education, employment or training and for whom it is a policy priority to provide support. Section 77 gives the persons and bodies listed in subsection (2) the power to supply information about a young person or relevant young adult to any other person or body involved in the provision of Connexions services for the purposes of the provision of those services.
83.Paragraph 74 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 amends the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999. This is to ensure that social security information may be shared between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and a county council, where that county council is exercising social security functions in respect of a young person for whom they are required to provide support via the Connexions services. Regulations made under this social security legislation define a “local authority” by reference to the Social Security Administration Act 1992. The definition of local authority in that Act does not include a county council in England. Therefore, but for these amendments, the current data sharing would not be able to continue where a county council is exercising Connexions functions. Other minor and consequential amendments are made in Schedule 1.
84.Section 79 repeals sections 114 to 121 of the 2000 Act which provided for the establishment in England of the Connexions service by the Secretary of State.
