Blueprint set out for youth-service reform

Citation

(2003), "Blueprint set out for youth-service reform", Education + Training, Vol. 45 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2003.00445cab.002

Blueprint set out for youth-service reform

Blueprint set out for youth-service reform

The Government has set out plans for modernizing youth services in England, to bring all local authorities up to the standard of the best. Transforming Youth Work: Resourcing Excellent Youth Services highlights the key role of youth services in engaging the hard-to-reach and contributing to the reduction of the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training. The Government has worked with key partners to specify a common standard of quality and delivery expected of all local-authority youth services.

Local authorities will receive an extra 5.9 per cent funding in their education budgets, making potential funding of £513 million available. The Government is also investing an additional £54 million over the next three years to support youth-service modernization. Ivan Lewis, minister for young people and adult skills, said: "We want a high-quality, well managed and properly resourced service that can make an even greater contribution to improving community cohesion, tackling anti-social behaviour and crime and overcoming alienation among young people. We now expect local authorities to provide a wide range of activities for young people, including sports, arts and outdoor pursuits. They should use youth work to bring communities together."

The Government's priority for young people is backed by its national programme of Connexions partnerships for voluntary advice and support for 13 to 19-year-olds.