Connexions service consultation 2019

Overview

The Connexions Service was created in 2000 as a national support service for all young people aged 13-19 (up to 25 with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities). Funding that was originally given to local authorities for this service ended in 2011 as part of the Government’s public service spending cuts.

Download information about current Connexions services.

Schools and colleges assumed statutory responsibility for securing access to independent and impartial careers education and information, advice and guidance for students in 2012 (further information on schools' responsibilities are available in the proposed options section of the consultation).

Following these changes, local authorities retained some of the residual duties under section 68(4) of the Education and Skills Act to encourage, enable and assist young people’s participation in education and training. 

In Leicester, the Connexions service continues to deliver these residual duties on behalf of the local authority and the additional responsibilities detailed in ‘The Participation of Young People in Education, Employment or Training’ statutory guidance issued in 2016.

Local authorities have a clear role in supporting young people to access opportunities that prevent them from becoming NEET (Not In Employment Education or Training). Key to this is support provided to identified vulnerable young people in pre and post 16 education.

Local authorities are also required to provide detailed data on the characteristics and current activity of young people to the Department for Education (DfE). Connexions undertakes tracking activities to identify the whereabouts of 4,100 students leaving year 11 and 8,500 young people in academic years 12 and 13.

This data is sent to DfE monthly for monitoring levels of participation in education and training. This information is collected and recorded on a National Client Caseload Information system (NCCIS).

Why your views matter

We are seeking views on proposals to reduce funding for the Connexions service which currently operates under a budget of £904,300 per year. We had originally considered reducing the budget by £687,000 to contribute towards the budget shortfall in the Social Care and Education department.

However, this was considered to be unrealistic and two proposals have been put forward that will reduce the budget by £241,000 and £375,500, respectively. Any shortfall will need to be found from alternative proposals within the department.

We will continue to provide targeted support to our most vulnerable young people and meet our statutory responsibilities, and are working with key partners to secure additional government funding to add value to our existing work - in particular to reduce the number of NEETs.