YOUNG people are continuing to turn to a council youth service for advice on issues from sexual health to substance misuse, councillors have been told.

Welsh education inspectors Estyn have praised Monmouthshire County Council’s youth service as making “a significant and positive difference to the lives of young people across the county”.

Service manager Josh Klein said inspectors noted the ongoing support provided for those aged 11 to 25 and while the service mainly works with teenagers aged 16 to 18 young adults will return to it for assistance.

“Those 11 to 16-year-olds who’ve gone off to be ‘grown ups’ will come back to find us when they need some advice from sexual health or require support about drugs or substance misuse or applying for housing or a job or want to try out volunteering opportunities,” Mr Klein told the council’s people scrutiny committee.

“Lots of relationships continue to exist.”

He was answering a question on what “measurable outcomes” councillors could judge the service’s draft five year action plan against.

He said Estyn had produced a “spotlight” report of good practice on how the service tracks its progress.

He said every project has targets and key performance indicators which are then assessed and evaluated and used as a baseline to inform upcoming work and said it isn’t simply focused on “quantitative” statistics.

The five-year plan has identified supporting wellbeing, providing opportunities for young people, addressing inequalities, expanding its digital and online provision and developing its workforce as priorities.

Mr Klein said it was also recognised “capacity” is a key issue in preventing the service doing “more than we are already doing” and highlighted the lack of full-time youth club in Chepstow as an example of existing constraints on the service.

But he said he had held off setting out what more resources it could require until the action plan has been submitted to the Welsh Government for approval in the new year and said: “I didn’t want to waste time costing up stuff that might have to change.”

The service will also assess how it can meet demands identified including through working with partners such as support services it signposts young people to.

It also works with NHS child and adolescent mental health services, or CAMHS, to provide “step down” support while Mr Klein said the health service will sometimes ask youth workers to continue to provide support in recognition of relationships developed. He acknowledged waiting lists for CAMHS support.

Other activities carried out by the service include outreach to targets areas of anti-social behaviour, addressing school assemblies and running lunchtime clubs including for LGBT clubs and supporting pupils with additional learning needs in the special resource bases in the county’s secondary schools.

Committee members praised the service and endorsed the five-year plan and Conservative councillor for Devauden, Rachel Buckler, said: “It strikes me these young people keep coming back as they feel safe and secure with the help the service has given over the years.”