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Connexions partnerships are making good progress helping young people into work and education and are improving their advice and guidance services, according to the National Audit Office (NAO), writes Kendra Inman.

But a lack of resources means the service may not be reaching as many young people as planned, said inspectors.

In its report, the NAO called for Connexions to be placed on a firmer financial footing with a switch to three-year funding mechanisms to allow more effective planning.

There are fears that Connexions budgets will be further undermined by a change to VAT regulations which comes into effect this month. In future, partnerships will be unable to recover VAT they incur buying services, children's minister Margaret Hodge told the Commons.

“We are asking Partnerships to look at improving their tax efficiency by moving to different structures where they feel this is appropriate,” she said. 

Meanwhile, the National Association of Connexions Partnerships (NACP) welcomed the NAO report as proof that partnerships are making a difference to young peoples’ lives.

The NAO found that, as of November 2003, the proportion of 16-18-year-olds not in education, employment or training had been reduced by eight per cent where the service had been established the longest.

Nationally, this amounted to a three per cent reduction to this date and the Connexions Partnerships were confident that the government-set target of 10 per cent will be achieved by November 2004.

The NAO also found the service was well-regarded by users. However, inspectors said there is a risk Connexions may not reach as many young people as originally intended.

Tight budgets mean partnerships have employed fewer personal advisers than expected.

Inspectors’ recommendations include local and regional targets for reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training and a clear target date for the majority of personal advisers to have completed Connexions-specific training.

The NAO also called for better analysis of results so that resources can be allocated more effectively, and the development of performance indicators for the full range of services.

Report executive summary

Full report