THE YOUTH SERVICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND A Statistical and Geographic Report of the EA Registered Youth Service 2016 Data Cycle 1 P a g e
Table of Contents Introduction 4 Overview 7 1.0 Youth Facilities in Northern Ireland 8 Average weekly membership and contact hours per group 9 Average attendance by type of provision 10 Comparison of mean and median values for membership 12 Counts of units 2004-16 13 Page 2.0 Youth Service Membership in Northern Ireland 15 Participation rate by age group 14 Participation rate by age group 2015-16 16 Age distribution by type of provision 17 Gender distribution by type of provision 16 Age and gender distribution by type of provision 18 Community background 21 Ethnic minorities 22 Disability 22 3.0 Geographical distribution of Youth Service membership 24 Participation rates by population group 25 Geographical distribution of participation rates by LGD and age 27 EA Registered Youth Service membership by LGD and type of provision 32 Geographic changes in membership 2015-16 35 4.0 Staffing in the Youth Service 37 Paid staff funded by non-ea sources 38 Weekly paid staff hours funded by non-ea sources 39 Volunteer to paid staff proportions 39 Staffing by type of youth provision 40 Gender of youth work staff 40 Qualifications of non-uniformed youth work staff 42 Qualifications of Uniformed youth work staff 43 Staff weekly paid-part-time and voluntary hours 43 Total paid and voluntary hours by type of provision 44 Distribution of part-time and full-time workers 44 Substantially funded and part-time funded units 45 Age of youth work staff 46 5.0 Other types of Youth Provision -Non-unit based provision 47 Duke of Edinburgh s Award 48 Summer schemes/activities 48 Full-time workers/area projects/outreach 49 Youth Intervention 50 2
Table of Contents Continued Other youth work- CRED, Irish Medium initiatives, DE Inclusion, Youth work in schools, Extended Provision 52 Types of non-unit provision registered by EA Offices 53 6.0 Cumulative youth work totals for Northern Ireland 54 Youth work totals by age 52 Total participation levels for all youth work in Northern Ireland 52 Total membership counts and participation levels for all youth work in 2016 by age group 53 APPENDIX Factsheets Of Youth Service Participation Rates And Units Of Provision By EA Office And Divisional Office Areas 2015/16 56 Factsheet 1: EA Belfast Office Cumulative Youth Work Totals and Participation Factsheet 2: EA Ballymena Office Cumulative Youth Work Totals and Participation Factsheet 3: EA Dundonald Office Cumulative Youth Work Totals and Participation Factsheet 4: EA Armagh Office Cumulative Youth Work Totals and Participation Factsheet 5: EA Omagh Office Cumulative Youth Work Totals and Participation 57 60 63 66 69 3
Introduction This report contains the findings of the 2016 data cycle for the EA registered Youth Service in Northern Ireland. The data presented is entirely derived from the statistical returns included in the Northern Ireland Youth Service Application for sponsorship (NIYSA), along with some demographic data from the 2015 Population Estimates, which provide the most recent assessment of the distribution of the youth population. While every effort has been made to validate the data, it must be highlighted that some of the information contained in this report does not necessarily reflect the full coverage of all EA registered Youth Service provision. Since 2006, additional data has been supplied pertaining to non-unit based provision (see section 5). Please note that data collection for this dimension of youth work is not consistent throughout all EA Offices and is subject to change from year to year. In addition, there are some inconsistencies in data collection between the EA Offices, meaning that the interpretation of historical inter-elb comparisons should be approached with caution 1. The text deals with the size, membership, contact levels, staffing and geographical distribution of the EA registered Youth Service in Northern Ireland and provides some commentary and spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mainly at the former Local Government District (LGD) level. The classification of youth groups follows that laid out in the table below, from the detailed description in the first column to the broad description in the second column. Generally, Classification 1 is used to throughout this report. Classification 1 Classification 2 Controlled Controlled Church based Community Other Uniformed Voluntary Uniformed 1 In particular, some (mainly area) projects were previously coded within the unit-based dataset have now been transferred to the non-unit based dataset from the former BELB and SEELB since 2010. This had been done in order to achieve greater consistency between the then ELBs at the time. This factor must be considered when comparing figures prior to and including 2009. Also, the use of Youth Councils for church based voluntary provision in the Dundonald Office area which has become more widespread since 2014/15 which refers to the single registration of a number of youth groups based at the same location. A further historical pattern affecting the Dundonald Office area is the separate registrations the various types of Guide and Scout units, for example, Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Senior Section. 4
In 2010, some changes were made to the accounting procedures. Historically there have been a number of area projects associated with unit based provision in the former BELB and SEELB areas which have now been removed from these totals. Instead this type of youth work is now reported in the non-unit based totals. Also, the young leaders age 18-25 are not included in the membership age 19-25. The membership totals quoted in the main body of the report are also summarised in the appendices which also provides cumulative counts and participation rates by EA Office Area. If further analysis or support is required this can be provided on request. Due to the potential for double-counting, and the short-term or detached nature of much of the provision, the analysis in respect of non-unit returns is reported separately in section 5 of this report. This type of provision includes Duke of Edinburgh Award, summer activities schemes, area/detached projects (including rural projects) and intervention programmes. Map 1a shows the former LGD boundaries (pre-april 2015) in Northern Ireland on which the geographic component of this analysis is based and Map 1b shows how the former LGDs are configured to the five EA Office areas. Map 1a 5
6 Map 1b
OVERVIEW The statistics in this report draw on statistical returns completed by all local EA registered units. based provision. Some additional data is included which relates to non-unit However please note that the report does not provide a definitive profile of all EA Youth Service provision, for example it excludes statistics for outdoor education, for some regionally-funded provision, or for all earmarked or thematic projects. EA registered Youth Facilities EA Registered Units (total count) 1,721 Controlled 92 5.3% Church based 307 17.8% Community 352 20.5% Uniformed 942 54.7% Other 28 1.6% Membership Total number of membership 141,934 Controlled 14,135 10.0% Church based 28,961 20.4% Community 44,796 31.6% Uniformed 52,608 37.1% Other 1,434 1.0% Age 4-8 (29.9%), Age 9-13 (38.2%), Age 14-18 (26.9%), Age 19-21 (3.1%), Age 22-25 (1.7%) % uptake of youth population (4-18 age group) 37.6% % uptake of youth population (4-25 age group) 26.9% Community background Ethnic Background Members with a disability 3.7% Protestant (62.4%), Catholic (34.9%), Other (2.7%) White (97.2%) Staffing Volunteers 19,603 Paid part-time staff (EA funded) 1,151 Full-time youth workers (EA funded) 99 Youth Tutors 17 Paid staff funded through non-ea sources 654 Non-unit provision Total volunteer hours per week 24,781 (average of 2.6 hours per volunteer) Total paid part-time hours per week 6,689 (average of 5.8 hours per worker) 55,754 young people were also involved in non-unit based work (relates to Duke of Edinburgh s Award, summer schemes, area projects, outreach, youth intervention, extended provision, Irish medium, DE inclusion) 7
1.0 YOUTH FACILITIES IN NORTHERN IRELAND Table 1 below shows the distribution of youth facilities in Northern Ireland by type of premises. Whereas the majority of Controlled groups use purpose-built and school premises, Church based voluntary and Uniformed provision is almost exclusively based in church buildings. These trends are unchanged form 2015. Table 1: Counts of youth facilities by type of premises Purpose built Church property School Facility Community Building Other Controlled 61% 3% 24% 11% 1% Church Based 3% 91% 1% 4% 0% Community 13% 16% 4% 66% 1% Uniformed 7% 84% 3% 6% 1% Other 21% 14% 4% 50% 11% Total 11% 66% 4% 19% 1% The information in Table 2 contains the same information only divided into the regular youth work categories. Again, the most commonly occurring type of youth provision in 2016, as in previous years, is Uniformed, accounting for 37% of the total membership and 55% of the total number of units. This is followed by Community-based voluntary provision (32% of total membership). Table 2: Counts of youth facilities (type of provision) Count of units Percent of Count Membership totals Percent of Membership Controlled 92 14,135 5.3% 9.9% Church Based 307 28,961 17.8% 20.4% Community 352 44,796 20.5% 31.6% Uniformed 942 52,608 54.7% 37.1% Other 28 1,434 1.6% 1.0% Total 1,721 141,934 100% 100% 8
Tables 3 and 4 compare the number of youth groups and membership totals for 2015 and 2016 data cycles. These figures show that in 2016 membership totals and the number of youth groups registered have declined comparative to those recorded in 2015, the grand total of 141,881 young people representing a net decrease of 4,791 across all EA Offices (see Table 3), though this reduction has not been evenly distributed. 2 Conversely, the count of EA registered units has reduced across most areas. 3 TABLE 3: Total unit count and membership variation by EA Office 2015-16 EA Office Variation 15-16 Variation 15-16 (Count of units) (Membership) Belfast 1-2,735 Ballymena -13-1,583 Dundonald -8-1,328 Armagh 0 575 Omagh 5 333 Total -15-4,738 Table 4 shows where the changes in membership totals and youth groups registered since 2015 have taken place within each type of youth provision. Much of the reduction in the count of youth groups registered can be accounted for by church based (non-uniformed) groups, although proportionately the membership of Controlled youth groups has reduced most significantly. This is because the decline in membership is comparable even though the number of units has remained unchanged and also because Controlled provision accounts for a much smaller proportion of all units. TABLE 4: Total unit count and membership variation by type of provision 2015-16 Type of provision Variation 15-16 Variation 15-16 (Count of units) (Membership) Controlled 0-1,284 Church based -19-1,375 Community 0-1,155 Uniformed 5-789 Other -1-135 Total -15-4,738 2 Membership totals (but not the count of EA Registered Units) have reduced most significantly in the Belfast Office area. Much of this decrease can be explained by the (i) non-registration of Children s Enterprise NI Ltd (membership 1021), and (ii) a drop in the membership of 7 large full-time centres amounting to over 1,500 in total. Further to this, in the Ballymena Office area, four large youth groups had a combined drop in membership of 700, a further 350 due to club closures in Carrickfergus and Larne. 3 The Dundonald Office, as has been the historical pattern, have tended to register Youth Councils (an aggregation of individual units at one location, mainly church-based) rather than individual units. 9
1.1 Average weekly membership and contact hours per group The information in Figure 1 below shows the average weekly membership by type of youth provision as represented by the bars and the scale on the left-hand axis. The line represents the average number of hours per week each group is open to young people. This continues the established pattern from previous years. The average size of a Controlled group has reduced by 14 members since 2015 though little change is observed elsewhere. Figure 1 1.2 Average Attendance by type of provision Figure 2 below compares the average total membership of registered groups with the average weekly attendance figure as reported by unit leaders. In general terms, a considerably higher proportion of the membership of Uniformed groups attend on a weekly basis than is the case in other types of provision. Please note that this calculation has been based on only those that supplied this information. 4 Further analysis has shown that at individual unit level, the average attendance in Uniformed groups stands at 91% of the total membership, compared with 72% in Community groups. In Controlled groups, around three-quarters of the total membership attend in the average week. In the EA registered Youth Service as a 4 25% of returns did not specify this information, and a further 4% specified an average attendance that exceeded the stated total membership. 10
whole, 83% of the total memberships of youth groups attend on an average week which represents an increase of 3% from 2015-16. Figure 2 11
1.3 Comparison of mean and median values for membership Figures 3 and 4 compare the mean and median values for membership and contact hours by type of youth provision. Both are measures of central tendency. Mean values represent average values whereas median values represent the middle value when all the values are ranged from the lowest through to the highest. It is useful to explore the median values as when a small number of values are abnormally high (as in the case of the membership numbers in the largest youth clubs) the mean values are skewed upwards with the effect that it becomes less representative as a measure of central tendency. The median, even though it consists of a single value of the middle case in the range, is therefore a valuable statistic as it is not affected by abnormally high values, or outliers. Figure 3 Figure 3 shows that the median values for membership is consistently lower than the mean values across the types of youth provision. For example, whereas the mean membership of Controlled groups is 153, the median reduces this to 119. The smallest difference is noted for Uniformed provision, showing that the average size of a Uniformed group involves less variation, whereas the largest variation is for Church based provision, suggesting considerable variation in the size of youth groups. 5 Although these patterns are identical to those observed in 5 Knock Presbyterian Youth and St Theresa s Youth Centre (Belfast) have memberships of 600 and 537 respectively. Some church organisations have also amalgamated into Youth Councils in the Dundonald Office area as has been the recent trend. In total, 18 Church based groups have a 12
preceding years, it is notable that the median size of a Controlled group has reduced by 30 members since 2015. 6 Figure 4 presents the same analysis in respect of hours open per week. The same patterns again are evident here, with the largest difference noted for Community (voluntary) provision, where the mean exceeds the median by almost 6 hours per week. This indicates a number of groups with high opening hours disproportionately increasing the average. Figure 4 1.4 Counts of units 2004-16 Table 5 below brings together headline totals and counts for various aspects of youth provision membership and staffing and compares them with the previous years for which data is available. Please note that due to variations in approaches to data collection, the comparative figures should be approached with caution. membership in excess of 300 and 26 groups with a membership exceeding 200. Conversely, 137 church based groups have memberships of 50 or less. 6 This can be partly explained by large reductions in a small number of Controlled youth centres in Belfast and Ballymena Office areas (please see footnote 2). 13
Table 5: Counts of youth facilities 2004-16 Year Uniformed Church based (vol) Community (vol) Controlled Other Grand Total 2004 1081 332 533 126 62 2134 2005 1073 294 528 127 42 2064 2006 1051 366 414 124 28 1983 2007 1043 423 381 133 27 2007 2008 1057 393 381 136 34 2001 2009 999 397 381 126 26 1929 2010 1024 372 367 107 7 28 1898 2011 1008 341 369 108 25 1854 2012 998 349 365 102 24 1838 2013 993 342 371 98 32 1836 2014 979 328 373 97 32 1809 2015 937 326 352 92 29 1736 2016 942 307 352 92 28 1721 7 This figure reflects the removal of area project and related youth work totals from Controlled provision from 2010 in the former BELB and SEELB. 14
2.0 YOUTH SERVICE MEMBERSHIP IN NORTHERN IRELAND This section presents the results from an analysis of the membership of the EA registered Youth Service by comparing the characteristics of the memberships of all the main types of provision by age, gender, community background, ethnic background and disability. Table 6 shows the age distribution of Youth Service membership throughout Northern Ireland using the age categories prescribed in the Priorities for Youth policy document. From this information the most commonly occurring age band is 9-13 which accounts for almost 38% of the overall membership. In contrast, age group 22-25 accounts for less than 2% of the total membership. Please note, the figures for the 19-25 age ranges analysed in this section collates the membership age 19-21 and 22-25 only and not the young leaders age 18-25. TABLE 6: Age distribution of membership in 2016 Age n % 4-8 42,508 29.9% 9-13 54,324 38.2% 14-18 38,228 26.9% 19-21 4,477 3.1% 22-25 2,397 1.7% Total 141,934 100% 2.1 Participation rate by age group Figure 5 overleaf shows the percentage rate of participation for each age category as a proportion of the population of the same age in Northern Ireland (taken from the 2015 Population Estimates). In general, participation in Youth Service peaks at 48% of the youth population in the age group 9-13 and decreases to 2.4% at age 22-25. 8 The participation rate for the youth population age 4-18 is 37.6%. The participation rate for the population of all Youth Service age categories (age 4-25) is 26.9%. 8 Participation at age 19-21 and 22-25 are exclusive of young leaders age 18-25. Further details on participation rates are presented in Tables 34-36 on page 54 of this report. 15
Figure 5 2.2 Participation rate by age group 2015-16 Figure 6 below compares the participation in Youth Service provision for 2016 against that for 2015 for all the PfY age groups. The overall participation rate for age 4-18 shows an decrease of 1.4%, and this decrease has been reflected across all of the main age categories (with the exception of the much less populated 22-25 age group), with the 9-13 age group showing a decrease of almost 2% relative to 2015. Figure 6 16
2.3 Age distribution by type of provision Figure 7 below shows the age distribution of the memberships of the main types of youth provision. The bar chart illustrates the percentages represented by the membership counts in the data table below. From this information, Uniformed provision has a younger age profile than the other types with 44% of its membership aged 4-8 and 80% aged 13 or below. Voluntary (community) provision shows the oldest age profile, with 41% of the membership between the ages of 14 and 25. Figure 7 2.4 Gender distribution by type of provision Figure 8 indicates that males outnumber females in all main types of youth provision with the exception of Uniformed provision where there are almost 4,800 more females than males. Although this mirrors the trend observed in recent years, for the first time females outnumber males in the membership of the entire EA Registered youth service by 1,700. The gender balance in the EA registered Youth Service as a whole is 49.4% male and 50.6% female. 17
Figure 8 2.5 Age and gender distribution by type of provision Figure 9 below shows the EA registered Youth Service membership by age and gender. Significantly there is a bias towards females in the 4-8 age group which evens out at age 9-13 and the balance swings in favour of male membership until the disparity is at its widest at age 22-25, where males account for 54% of the membership. Since 2015, a slight increase in female membership is noted in all age categories (except age 22-25), and at age 14-18 the figure is 1.3% more than in 2015. Figure 9 18
Figures 10-13 show the memberships of the main types of youth provision: Controlled, Voluntary (Church-based and Community have been shown separately) and Uniformed. In Controlled and Community (voluntary) provision, males noticeably account for the majority in all age groups and a tendency to increase with age is noted in all types of provision in keeping with the general pattern (illustrated in Fig.9). In Uniformed provision, female membership is more common in all age groups with the exception of age 14-18. Figure 10 Figure 11 19
Figure 12 Figure 13 20
2.6 Community background TABLE 7: Youth Service membership by community background* (n) % Protestant 85,629 62.4% Roman Catholic 47,872 34.9% Other 3,721 2.7% TOTAL 137,222 100.0% * Please note that due to data supply issues, these figures cannot be regarded as an entirely correct portrayal of community background Table 5 above shows the counts and percentages of the Youth Service membership by their community background. From this information, almost twothirds of the total membership is of a Protestant community background (63%). Among the total population aged 4-25 in NI, according to the 2011 Census, Protestants account for 37% of the population, Catholics for 45%. 9 Figure 14 below shows the community background for the memberships of the main types of provision. The memberships of Uniformed and Church-based provision is mainly Protestant (86% and 78% respectively) 10 with Controlled and Community (voluntary) provision having a higher proportion of members from a Roman Catholic background. Figure 14 9 The Other Religions, No Religion and Not Stated categories account for 20% of the resident youth population of Northern Ireland according to the 2011 Census. 10 89% of the membership of smaller church based groups with a membership of less than 100 are from a Protestant community background. However, the membership of large Church based youth clubs are less likely to be characterised in such a way, as only 60% of the total membership of large groups (of over 150 members) are from a Protestant community background. 21
2.7 Ethnic minorities Table 8 below lists the numbers of ethnic minority groups in the membership of the EA registered Youth Service in 2016 and the proportions of each in the age 4-25 population of Northern Ireland at large (using the 2011 Census, as the latest figures available). From this comparison, Travellers and those from Afro- Caribbean ethnic backgrounds are considerably over-represented in the membership of the Youth Service (relative to their representation in the youth population), whereas those young people from a Chinese and Asian background have a lesser representation. These latter groups have however increased the proportion within the EA registered youth service comparative to 2015. Please note that due to missing data entries, the ethnic background could not be elicited for the entire membership. TABLE 8: Ethnic background Ethnic Group White Chinese Asian Afro-Caribbean Travellers Other Youth Service membership % in Youth Service % in population INDEX 11 135,753 97.2% 97.7% 99 589 0.4% 0.4% 105 1,202 0.9% 0.8% 108 739 0.5% 0.2% 264 458 0.3% 0.1% 328 940 0.7% 0.8% 84 TOTAL 139,681 100% 100% 100 2.8 Disability Table 9 overleaf lists the distribution of young people with disabilities in the membership of the EA registered Youth Service in Northern Ireland in 2016 according to type of youth provision. Disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has substantial and long term adverse effect on person or persons ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The proportion of membership with a disability is shown alongside the percentage of the total disabled membership in each type of provision. The percentage of young people with a disability in the Youth Service as a whole is 3.7%. This represents a 0.9% reduction from 2015. 11 The index compares the proportion of each ethnic group within the Youth Service to the proportions in the youth population, an index of 100 indicating an equal proportion of each and a score in excess of 100 showing a higher proportion within the Youth Service in comparison to the youth population as a whole. 22
TABLE 9: The distribution of young people with disabilities by type of youth provision Type of provision Total members with disability % of total disabled % in type of provision Controlled 550 10.6% 3.9% Church based 670 12.9% 2.3% Community 1,825 35.0% 4.1% Uniformed 938 18.0% 1.8% Other* 1,225 23.5% 85.4% Total 5,208 100.0% 3.7% * Contains all disabled/special Educational Needs groups 23
3.0 GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF YOUTH SERVICE MEMBERSHIP Table 10 below shows the total counts of EA registered Youth Service provision for 2016 in each legacy LGD area (in descending order). The highest membership (outside of Belfast) is based in Craigavon and the lowest membership is found in Moyle. Table 10: Distribution of Youth Service membership by LGD LGD All members % of total BELFAST 23332 16.4% CRAIGAVON 11346 8.0% DERRY 8939 6.3% LISBURN 7923 5.6% NEWRY and MOURNE 7255 5.1% NEWTOWNABBEY 7195 5.1% DOWN 5753 4.1% NORTH DOWN 5688 4.0% BALLYMENA 5680 4.0% ARDS 5528 3.9% DUNGANNON 5495 3.9% ARMAGH 4893 3.4% CASTLEREAGH 4648 3.3% BANBRIDGE 4632 3.3% OMAGH 3851 2.7% ANTRIM 3758 2.6% COLERAINE 3611 2.5% FERMANAGH 3534 2.5% MAGHERAFELT 3311 2.3% CARRICKFERGUS 3253 2.3% LIMAVADY 2698 1.9% STRABANE 2259 1.6% BALLYMONEY 2213 1.6% COOKSTOWN 2037 1.4% LARNE 1932 1.4% MOYLE 1170 0.8% TOTAL 141934 100% 24
Table 11 shows the membership of the EA Youth Service in Northern Ireland by LGD and by type of provision (broken into Controlled, Voluntary and Uniformed). Outside of Belfast, the highest count of membership in Controlled provision is in Derry, followed by Newtownabbey and Antrim. TABLE 11: Youth Service totals by type of provision LGD Controlled Voluntary Uniformed Grand Total ANTRIM 799 1,214 1,745 3,758 ARDS 125 2,107 3,296 5,528 ARMAGH 77 2,361 2,455 4,893 BALLYMENA 475 1,786 3,419 5,680 BALLYMONEY - 1,131 1,082 2,213 BANBRIDGE 480 2,313 1,839 4,632 BELFAST 3,296 15,124 4,912 23,332 CARRICKFERGUS 606 1,095 1,552 3,253 CASTLEREAGH 694 1,543 2,411 4,648 COLERAINE 375 1,065 2,171 3,611 COOKSTOWN - 1,106 931 2,037 CRAIGAVON 676 7,618 3,052 11,346 DERRY 1,513 5,867 1,559 8,939 DOWN 246 3,883 1,624 5,753 DUNGANNON 692 3,364 1,439 5,495 FERMANAGH 392 1,291 1,851 3,534 LARNE - 675 1,257 1,932 LIMAVADY 487 1,176 1,035 2,698 LISBURN 466 4,090 3,367 7,923 MAGHERAFELT 764 1,321 1,226 3,311 MOYLE 173 537 460 1,170 NEWRY and MOURNE - 6,359 896 7,255 NEWTOWNABBEY 748 2,315 4,132 7,195 NORTH DOWN 148 2,271 3,269 5,688 OMAGH 472 2,688 691 3,851 STRABANE 431 891 937 2,259 TOTAL 14,135 75,191 52,608 141,934 25
3.1 Participation rates by population group Table 12 presents the EA registered Youth Service membership aggregated into the standard age groupings, and presented as percentages of the total population in the main Youth Service age categories. From this information participation peaks at age 9-13 where 48% of the population participates in the EA registered Youth Service. At age 22-25, this figure stands at 2.4%. In general terms, participation has slightly decreased in the 9-18 age bands between 2015 and 2016 and decreased in the youngest (4-8) age band steadily from 2014, a pattern which also applies to the age 19-21 category. TABLE 12: Penetration of Youth Service into youth population by age group 2014-16 N. IRELAND (ALL) 2014 N. IRELAND (ALL) 2015 N. IRELAND (ALL) 2016 Age 4-8 (%) 36.0% 34.8% 33.4% Age 9-13 (%) 47.2% 50.0% 48.1% Age 14-18 (%) 32.3% 33.1% 32.0% Age 19-21 (%) 9.5% 7.3% 6.3% Age 22-25 (%) 3.4% 2.3% 2.4% Age 4-18 (%) 38.3% 39.0% 37.6% Age 4-25 (%) 27.8% 27.8% 26.9% This information is also illustrated by Maps 2-8 on pages 26-30 which shows participation rates at LGD level. Those areas shaded in the strongest red colours represent the highest participation of the youth population and the areas in blue shading represent the lowest. The maps illustrate participation rates calculated from the 2015 Population Estimates. 26
3.2 Geographical distribution of participation rates by LGD and age Table 13 shows population statistics and rates of Youth Service participation at age 4-25 and age 4-18 for each legacy LGD area. From this information, there is considerable geographic variation in participation at age 4-18, from 25% in Strabane to 54% in Craigavon. A marginal decrease in the overall participation rate from 2015 is noted. At age 4-25 these variations are mirrored. TABLE 13: Youth Service participation age 4-18 and 4-25 (2015 Population Estimates) LGD Population Population age 4-25 age 4-18 Youth provision age 4-25 Youth provision age 4-18 Participation rate age 4-25(%) Participation rate age 4-18 (%) ANTRIM 15790 11252 3758 3701 23.8% 32.9% ARDS 20284 14337 5528 5267 27.3% 36.7% ARMAGH 17800 12605 4893 4552 27.5% 36.1% BALLYMENA BALLYMONEY BANBRIDGE BELFAST 17645 12261 5680 5477 32.2% 44.7% 8851 6312 2213 2123 25.0% 33.6% 13906 10105 4632 4540 33.3% 44.9% 85142 49379 23332 22025 27.4% 44.6% CARRICKFERGUS 10362 7064 3253 3031 31.4% 42.9% CASTLEREAGH COLERAINE COOKSTOWN CRAIGAVON 17770 12290 4648 4577 26.2% 37.2% 16833 10852 3611 3422 21.5% 31.5% 11324 7824 2037 1957 18.0% 25.0% 28380 19675 11346 10644 40.0% 54.1% DERRY 33190 22766 8939 8210 26.9% 36.1% DOWN 19835 13972 5753 5484 29.0% 39.2% DUNGANNON 18292 12867 5495 5295 30.0% 41.2% FERMANAGH LARNE LIMAVADY LISBURN 17445 12656 3534 3459 20.3% 27.3% 8356 5797 1932 1879 23.1% 32.4% 9813 6857 2698 2632 27.5% 38.4% 35904 25093 7923 7698 22.1% 30.7% MAGHERAFELT 14268 10011 3311 3247 23.2% 32.4% MOYLE NEWRY AND MOURNE NEWTOWNABBEY NORTH DOWN 4654 3334 1170 1161 25.1% 34.8% 31494 22509 7255 6446 23.0% 28.6% 24095 16250 7195 7053 29.9% 43.4% 19693 14066 5688 5431 28.9% 38.6% OMAGH 15325 11013 3851 3654 25.1% 33.2% STRABANE 11683 8252 2259 2095 19.3% 25.4% Total 528134 359399 141881 135017 26.9% 37.6% 27
The information in Table 11 is displayed geographically in Map 2 below which shows the participation level by former LGD at age 4-18. Map 9 on page 32 of this report shows the variation in these participation rates for each former LGD area between 2015 and 2016. Maps 2-8 show participation in the various Youth Service age categories, demonstrating the varying pattern of Youth Service engagement within the youth populations of the 26 former LGD areas (which still form the basis of divisional youth office areas). The areas with the highest participation rates are represented by the red shading and those with the lowest participation are shown by the blue shading. Map 2 shows participation rates at age 4-18 (see also Table 11) and Maps 3-7 show this analysis at age 4-8, 9-13, 14-18, 19-21 and 22-25. Map 8 shows the participation levels at age 4-25, representing the entire EA registered Youth Service membership. Map 2 A wide variation in the geographic distribution of EA registered Youth Service participation is again noted. For example, whereas 45% of 4-8 year olds in Newtownabbey attend Youth Service provision this is the case for only 24% in 28
Newry & Mourne. At age 9-13, Craigavon shows a particularly high level of participation (71%). 12 A high rate of participation in Carrickfergus (58%) is also noted 13. In contrast, the participation rate in Strabane is much lower (34%). This geographic pattern is broadly mirrored at age 14-18 (Map 5) although the general participation rates are lower, ranging from 55% in Craigavon to the lowest value in Strabane where the participation rate is 15%. Participation rates in the over 18 age group decline dramatically, although in Craigavon and in Newry & Mourne the participation rates remain around 15-16% for the age 19-21 group, which contrasts with 0.8% in Moyle. Map 7 illustrates the distribution of participation at age 22-25 which shows the lowest participation rates among all of the PfY age groups, with eight out of the twenty six areas showing participation rates of 1% or less. 14 At age 4-25 (the whole Youth Service), the highest participation is found Craigavon (40%) and the lowest in Strabane (17%). Map 3 12 This is consistent with the participation rate recorded in 2015, but represents an increase of 10% in the participation rate at age 9-13 relative to 2014 13 Though this represents a decline of 10% relative to the participation observed in 2015 14 The counts of young leaders are not included in this analysis. Nevertheless, Carrickfergus has shown a participation rate of 7% in the age category 29
Map 4 Map 5 30
Map 6 Map 7 31
Map 8 3.3 EA registered Youth Service membership by LGD and type of provision Table 14 overleaf shows the proportions of the total Youth Service membership within each former LGD area in terms of the total membership within each area attributed to each of the four main types of provision. The patterns observed differ very little from those observed in 2015. The highest proportion of membership in any one LGD area is for Uniformed provision in Larne (65%) which compares to the overall regional average of 37%. In contrast, only 12% of all Youth Service participants in Newry & Mourne are in Uniformed provision. In a reflection of the previous year (2015), only 2-4% of all membership is attributed to Church based provision in Limavady and Derry, compared to the NI average for this type of provision of 21%. In areas where the percentage of Uniformed provision accounts for the smallest proportion of the total, there is a correspondingly high proportion of participation in Community (voluntary) provision, as illustrated in Omagh, Derry and Newry & Mourne where at least 60% of Youth Service membership is attributable to this type of provision (the average is 32% for all NI). Magherafelt (23%) has the highest proportion of Youth Service membership in Controlled provision followed by Antrim (21%) and 32
then by Carrickfergus and Strabane (19%), although in Ballymoney, Cookstown and Newry & Mourne there is no currently registered Controlled provision as was also the case in 2015. 15 TABLE 14: Youth Service membership by area and type of provision (percent) LGD Controlled Church Based Community Based Uniformed ANTRIM 21% 18% 13% 46% ARDS 2% 19% 19% 60% ARMAGH 2% 29% 15% 50% BALLYMENA 8% 22% 9% 60% BALLYMONEY 0% 24% 25% 49% BANBRIDGE 10% 27% 23% 40% BELFAST 14% 23% 40% 21% CARRICKFERGUS 19% 17% 11% 48% CASTLEREAGH 15% 22% 11% 52% COLERAINE 10% 16% 10% 60% COOKSTOWN 0% 22% 29% 46% CRAIGAVON 6% 26% 41% 27% DERRY 17% 4% 61% 17% DOWN 4% 18% 50% 28% DUNGANNON 13% 34% 27% 26% FERMANAGH 11% 7% 29% 52% LARNE 0% 7% 28% 65% LIMAVADY 18% 2% 41% 38% LISBURN 6% 32% 20% 42% MAGHERAFELT 23% 4% 34% 37% MOYLE 15% 18% 28% 39% NEWRY and MOURNE 0% 26% 62% 12% NEWTOWNABBEY 10% 17% 14% 57% NORTH DOWN 3% 28% 10% 57% OMAGH 12% 9% 60% 18% STRABANE 19% 6% 34% 41% Grand Total 10% 20% 32% 37% Table 15 overleaf shows the year-on-year percentage difference of the share of the Youth Service membership in each type of provision between 2015 and 2016 in each area. From this, only some very marginal overall changes have occurred to the overall proportions but some more notable variations (though still minor) 15 As these figures are rounded to whole numbers, Armagh is shown not to have any Controlled provision, though in reality the figure is just under 0.5% (on account of Armagh Youth Centre). 33
can be observed at local levels. For example, in Castlereagh, there has been a shift away from Controlled provision of 5%, resulting in a higher proportion of Uniformed provision. The reverse trend is evident in Strabane, where Controlled provision accounts for 6% more of total participation than was the case in 2015. 16 TABLE 15: Percentage change in the proportion of total membership by type of provision 2015-16 Controlled Church Based Community Uniformed ANTRIM -1% 0% 0% 2% ARDS 2% -7% 1% 4% ARMAGH 0% -2% 1% 1% BALLYMENA 1% 2% -2% -1% BALLYMONEY 0% -1% 2% -1% BANBRIDGE 1% -1% 0% -1% BELFAST 0% 1% -3% 3% CARRICKFERGUS 1% -4% -4% 6% CASTLEREAGH -5% 1% -1% 5% COLERAINE -3% 1% 0% 2% COOKSTOWN 0% 0% -3% 3% CRAIGAVON -1% 0% 4% -1% DERRY -2% 0% 4% -2% DOWN 0% -3% 0% 3% DUNGANNON 0% 0% 0% -1% FERMANAGH -1% 1% -4% 4% LARNE 0% -3% -3% 6% LIMAVADY 2% -1% 3% -4% LISBURN -3% 7% 0% -4% MAGHERAFELT 0% -4% 4% 0% MOYLE 1% 1% -4% 5% NEWRY and MOURNE 0% -1% 1% 0% NEWTOWNABBEY -3% -1% 2% 2% NORTH DOWN 0% 1% 1% -2% OMAGH 0% 0% 1% 0% STRABANE 6% -1% 1% -5% Grand Total -1% 0% 0% 1% 16 There are differing explanations for these trends, depending on the area. In the case of Castlereagh, there has been a decrease of 337 members within Controlled provision, mainly accounted for by a reduction in the membership of Brooklands Youth Centre of over 200. In the case of Strabane representing the opposite trend, there has been an increase in membership of Strabane Youth Association (a Controlled youth club) of 147. 34
3.4 Geographic changes in membership 2015-16 Figure 15 illustrates where the changes in the EA registered Youth Service membership counts between 2015 and 2016 have taken place geographically. Apart from Belfast, net reductions in memberships in excess of 600 took place in Newtownabbey and Lisburn whereas the only increase of a similar proportion took place in Derry. 17 Figure 15 17 In Derry the increase (the second year in a row of increase), is again accounted for by Voluntary (non-uniformed) provision, particularly the registration of The Bytes project, The Whistle Project and The McGinley School (combined total of 781). In Lisburn, the decrease can be explained by a very large reduction in the membership of Laurelhill Youth Centre (of 225) and large decrease in Uniformed membership generally. 35
Map 9 shows the difference in the participation rates from 2015-16 for age 4-18. The areas shaded red show the increases and the areas shaded blue show decreases in participation rates. Although participation rates in 2015 are around 2.5% higher in some areas (e.g. Magherafelt, Strabane and Derry), it is more common for participation rates to have declined since 2015, particularly in Carrickfergus (over 7%) and Belfast (4.6%). Map 9 36
4.0 STAFFING IN THE YOUTH SERVICE This section details staffing arrangements in the EA registered Youth Service in Northern Ireland in 2016. This is analysed for paid part-time, full-time youth workers and volunteers. The tables below list the numbers of volunteers, paid part-time youth workers and full-time youth workers by type of youth provision and gender. 18 TABLE 16: All staff 2016 (n) % Volunteers 19,669 91.1% Paid part-time (EA funded) 1,151 5.3% Paid part-time (non-ea funded) 486 2.3% Full-time workers (EA funded) 99 0.5% Full-time workers (non-ea funded) 168 0.8% Youth Tutors 17 0.1% Total 21,590 100% As Table 16 shows, the overwhelming majority of youth work staff are volunteers (91%). Furthermore, the information in Tables 17-19 shows that: Youth work staff in Uniformed provision are almost exclusively volunteers. Uniformed provision typically has the highest count of volunteer hours per week but the highest average weekly voluntary contributions per youth group are to be found in non-uniformed voluntary provision. 19 Controlled provision has the highest proportion of EA funded paid staff (both full-time and part-time), accounting for 50% of the total of all youth work staff, compared to 5.5% for the entire EA registered Service. 20 Table 17: Volunteers and weekly voluntary hours All volunteers % in type Sum of VolHrs/Wk Average of VolHrs/Wk Controlled 310 34.7% 1123 15.8 Church based (vol) 5,104 95.0% 10,849 36.4 Community (vol) 3,282 77.5% 12,143 36.7 Uniformed 10,494 99.4% 25,356 27.5 Other 479 92.3% 1,591 58.9 Total 19,669 91.1% 51,062 30.9 18 Please note that paid staff funded by EA represent 5.7% of the total of all youth work staff, and 65% of all paid youth work staff (reduced from 68% in 2015 and from 73% in 2014). 19 Relative to 2015, although the total count of volunteers has decreased by over 100, nevertheless the total hours per week performed by volunteers has increased by 2% 20 The total number of EA funded paid positions in Controlled provision has reduced by 53 (including 14 full-time positions) since 2015. 37
Table 18: Paid part-time staff (EA funded) All Paid p/t Staff % in type Sum of PdHrs/Wk Average of Pd Hrs/Wk Controlled 513 56.7% 2,925 31.5 Church based (vol) 140 2.6% 798 2.6 Community (vol) 473 11.2% 2,861 8.1 Uniformed 0 0.0% 0 0.0 Other 25 4.8% 105 3.8 Total 1,151 5.3% 6,689 3.9 Table 19: Full-time Youth Workers (EA funded) All Full-time workers % in type Approx. sum of Full-time hours (x37) Controlled 46 5.1% 1,702 Church based (vol) 15 0.3% 555 Community (vol) 38 0.9% 1,406 Uniformed 0 0.0% 0 Other 0 0.0% 0 Total 97 0.4% 3,589 4.1 Paid staff funded by non-ea sources Fig. 16 represents all paid staff (part-time and full-time) funded by EA and from Figure 16 non-ea sources. From this, a further 437 paid positions were funded in Voluntary (Community) provision by sources other than EA. The number of paid positions funded by non-ea sources in this type of provision has increased by 55. 38
4.2 Weekly paid staff hours funded by non-ea sources Table 20 below shows the extent of paid youth work staff contributions that have been funded by sources other than through EA Youth Service. Voluntary (Community) provision shows the highest tendency for this, accounting for 2,767 hours per week performed by part-time staff. This is in addition to 107 full-time posts. Indeed, non-uniformed voluntary provision accounts for 71% of all paid part-time hours funded from other sources, and just over 9% of all youth work staff in this type of provision are funded in this way. TABLE 18: Part-time hours and full-time positions funded by non-ea sources Type of provision Weekly Paid parttime hours not funded by EA Part-time youth worker positions not funded by EA Full-time youth worker positions not funded by EA Controlled 107 20 6 Voluntary (Church based) 747 69 45 Voluntary (Community) 2,767 330 107 Uniformed 126 55 8 Other 139 12 2 All Youth Service 3,885 486 168 4.3 Volunteer to paid staff proportions Table 21 below shows the average number of volunteers for each paid staff (both part-time and full-time) for each type of provision. Although there is an average of 16 volunteers for each paid member of staff (EA funded), there are large variations depending on type of provision, demonstrated by a higher proportion of paid staff to volunteers in Controlled provision compared to all Voluntary provision in which there are almost 29 volunteers for each member of paid staff. TABLE 21: Average count of volunteers per paid staff Type of provision Average volunteers per member of paid staff Controlled 0.8 Voluntary (Church based) 27.5 Voluntary (Community based) 7.7 Uniformed n/a All voluntary provision 28.9 All Youth Service 15.9 39
In comparison to 2015, the total number of volunteers per paid staff has remained constant for the EA registered youth service as a whole, and only a slight decrease of 1 volunteer in the voluntary sector to 28 per paid staff. 21 4.4 Staffing by type of youth provision Figure 17 below shows a contrast between staffing in Controlled provision, in which 58% is paid, and the remaining types of provision in which staffing is overwhelmingly based on volunteers. Figure 17 4.5 Gender of youth work staff From Figure 18, female volunteers outnumber males, accounting for 64% of the total throughout all types of provision. There are more females than males who are paid part-time youth work staff but a majority of full-time workers are male. These patterns are identical to those observed in 2015. 21 This increase has come about within Church based provision where there is an increase of 5 volunteers per paid staff relative to 2015. 40
41 Figure 18
4.6 Qualifications of non-uniformed youth work staff Figure 20 below details the qualifications of staff in non-uniformed youth work. The percentages of staff holding each type of qualification in each type of youth provision is represented by the bar chart, with the counts detailed in the underlying data table. The information shows a considerably higher proportion of staff in Controlled provision who are qualified at least to the standard of OCN Level 2 or 3 (68%), a significant increase compared to 2015 (57%). Church based (voluntary) provision has the highest proportion of unqualified staff and the lowest proportion of both categories of qualified staff. These patterns are all consistent with historical trends. 22 Figure 19 22 A further 228 staff with non-uniformed qualifications were also specified in respect of Uniformed provision 42
4.7 Qualifications of Uniformed youth work staff Table 22 below shows that 62% of staff in Uniformed membership are leaders and 20% are helpers. Although the total count of youth work staff has declined by 400 since 2015, the proportions within each level of training has remained identical. TABLE 22: Distribution of training levels for staff in Uniformed groups (n) % Advanced 818 8.5% Leader 5,961 61.7% Helper 2,869 29.7% TOTAL 9,648 100% 4.8 Staff weekly voluntary and paid part-time hours (EA FUNDED AND OTHER SOURCES) Figure 20 Figure 20 compares the average total paid and voluntary hours in each of the main types of provision performed by all paid staff funded by both EA and other sources. An average of just under 33 hours of paid weekly staff input takes place in Controlled provision, compared to the weekly average for Voluntary 43
provision of just 11 hours. 23 Further analysis shows that Community groups have an average of 15 weekly paid hours of staff input, compared to less than 6 hours per week for church based groups. 24 4.8.1 Total paid and voluntary hours by type of provision (EA funded) Figure 21 shows the sum totals of paid part-time hours (EA funded) and voluntary hours per week in all of the EA registered Youth Service by main type of provision (please see Tables 11-13 for further information). It shows that whereas 72% of staff input in Controlled provision funded by EA, this applies to only 14% of all weekly staff hours in voluntary provision. 25 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Total part-time paid and voluntary hours per week 1123 24583 25356 2901 3764 126 Controlled Voluntary Uniformed Figure 21 PdHrs/Wk VolHrs/Wk 4.9 Distribution of paid part-time and full-time workers The counts of units that have paid input (both part-time and full-time) funded by EA are detailed in Table 23. The first column represents the total count of clubs and the second and third columns show the percentage of these units that have the services of both part-time and fill-time youth workers. Therefore, out of 92 23 The average paid hours per week in Voluntary provision is 21 hours per week within the cohort of units that have paid provision. This compares to 10.8 hours per week as the average for all Voluntary groups as stated in Fig. 21. 24 The average number of hours of EA funded weekly staff hours is 5.5 in all Voluntary (nonuniformed) provision- 8 hours in Community provision and 2.5 hours in Church based provision.. 25 Although there was a decrease of 374 paid hours per week in Controlled provision relative to 2014/15 44
Controlled units, 96% have paid part-time staff input, 40% have the services of at least one full-time worker and 97% have access to a paid youth worker of either description. A further 9 groups have the services of a full-time youth worker that do not have paid part-time input. 26 A total of 240 units have access to paid youth work staff funded by EA (and a further 165 if staff funded from other sources are included). 27 TABLE 23: Paid part-time weekly staff input Type of provision Total count (units) % of groups operating with paid part-time staff % of groups operating with fulltime staff % of groups operating with paid staff Controlled 92 95.7% 40.2% 96.7% Church based (vol) 307 7.2% 4.2% 7.5% Community (vol) 352 31.8% 9.7% 33.8% Uniformed 942 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Other 28 32.1% 0.0% 32.1% Total 1721 13.4% 4.9% 13.9% 4.10 Substantially funded and part-time funded units Substantially funded units are those that have the services of an EA funded fulltime youth worker(s) and/or 20 hours per week of paid part-time staff hours. From this, over three quarters of Controlled groups fall into this category and also just under a fifth of Community (voluntary groups). Part-time funded groups are those which receive up to 20 hours per week of paid staffing hours. A further 23% of Controlled groups fall into this category, and almost 6% of all EA Registered groups. Please note that Uniformed groups have been excluded from this analysis. TABLE 24: Substantially funded and part-time funded groups by type of provision Type of provision Units- Substantially funded Units- Parttime funded % of units within type- Substantially funded % of units within type- Part-time funded Controlled 70 21 76.1% 22.8% Church based 15 10 4.9% 3.3% Community 65 57 18.5% 16.2% Other 1 8 0.1% 0.8% Grand Total 151 96 8.9% 5.7% 26 Of the 237 units that have specified the number of paid part-time staff, 81 also have access to at least one full-time worker(s). 27 Paid staff funded by sources other than EA account for 3% of all staff in the EA registered youth service as a whole, though this figure rises to almost 12% in the Community based youth provision. 45
4.11 Age of youth work staff (Full-time, Part-time and Volunteers) Figure 22 below details all youth work staff falling into the prescribed age bands. The accompanying percentages are illustrated by the line graph. Figure 22 From this information, the general age profile of youth work staff in Controlled provision is the youngest of all main types of provision whereas Uniformed provision (and to a lesser extent, Church based voluntary provision) has the oldest age profile and this is reinforced by the illustration above showing the highest proportion of staff in the age 36-50 category are in the Uniformed sector. 46