The New Commissioning Model of Services for Young People in Surrey: Evaluation of Achievements and Implications.

The New Commissioning Model of Services for Young People in Surrey: Evaluation of Achievements and Implications.

Tony Bovaird and Elke Loeffler

The Surrey County Council approach to commissioning Services for Young People in the period after 2012 achieved a national profile. It had a very ambitious scope, completely decommissioning many existing services and recommissioning in new ways. Its focus on improved outcomes for young people was widely seen as an important example of a much more outcome-based approach to local services commissioning. 

Governance International and INLOGOV were commissioned by Surrey CC to evaluate this decommissioning and recommissioning process, the experience of the new services to date and the implications for the next round of commissioning. The evaluation was based on a meta-analysis of secondary data, supplemented by primary data collected through interviews with key stakeholders, together with relevant documentation. Overall, the evaluation demonstrated that the recommissioning of Services for Young People had produced outstanding results including: 

  • a reduction of 60% in the number of young people who are NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) in Surrey (so that it became the lowest in England); 
  • a 90% successful progression to education, training or employment from young people at risk of becoming NEET who received support from the Year 11/12 Transition commission; 
  • a 90% reduction in first time entrants of young people to the criminal justice system (the lowest rate of first time entrants in England); 
  • a 4% increase in young people aged 16–18 starting apprenticeships since 2011 (in contrast to a decrease of 14% in England during the same period) and the fastest growing rate of apprenticeship opportunities in England; 
  • youth homelessness in Surrey was brought down to at a record low. 

Cite as: Bovaird, Tony and Loeffler, Elke (2014), The New Commissioning Model of Services for Young People in Surrey: Evaluation of Achievements and Implications. Report to Surrey County Council. Birmingham: INLOGOV and Governance International.

Download: The_New_Commissioning_Model_of_Services_for_Young_People_in_Surrey.pdf

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