The National Youth Agency has written to Education Secretary Ruth Kelly attacking the continued delays to the green paper on youth, which was originally due out in the autumn of 2004.

YES - Don Entwistle, area youth service manager, Tameside Youth Service

With the general election coming up, the delay is inevitable.

But there are many issues to do with young people, such as the huge zero-tolerance agenda of oppression against young people, anti-social behaviour orders and dispersal orders. This agenda means that there needs to be a positive and strong lead on funding, rights and responsibilities that values and appreciates young people.

There is a big need for a long-term plan for the next five to 10 years.

Young people need to be put at the heart of an agenda that celebrates their achievement, to roll back an intolerant society - for all kinds of reasons.

Because of the 24/7 culture, the time that adults can devote to young people, in terms of intervening with them and being sympathetic towards them, has been squeezed. That is damaging to young people because instead of intervening themselves, adults now call in the police, the council or the youth service when difficulties arise.

YES - John Goffee, head of community and youth services, Lancashire County Council

There are clearly issues to be resolved in the green paper, such as what happens to Connexions and how will it be incorporated into Every Child Matters. The policies around money for the Connexions redundancies is clearly having a debilitating effect on staff morale and, if we can't move quickly, we will start to see staff move away from these services and a lot of effort will be lost. The sooner we can give people confidence for the future, the better.

We're already up against time, given that my authority has already started reorganising services. Although we're involved in the discussions, people are saying we need to wait for the green paper.The document will help, but why do we need it when we know what we need to do and we have the evidence there?

We need to be involved in this discussion now, rather than sit back and wait, to ensure that the interests of young people are included in the new arrangements.

NO - Phillip Wragg, young gay men's development officer, Terrence Higgins Trust

I don't think the delay is harmful. There has been so much speculation, but I do not believe it is harming youth work since people are already working towards targets and outcomes.

In my line of work, lesbian, gay and bisexual young people are often included in the socially excluded groups, which can hold them back, but they are not always socially excluded themselves.

Any kind of legislation that includes lesbian, gay and bisexual young people is good. There needs to be more clarity on what services should be funding, and a mix between the youth service and Connexions, as we rely on both the voluntary and statutory sector. We always have to beg for funding from lots of different streams.

There is a massive amount of lesbian and gay youth work going on, but mainstream youth work often ignores their needs. Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth work is often done by passionate people in the service.

NO - Joyce Moseley, chief executive, Rainer

My hope is that the green paper doesn't come out before the election, so that it doesn't turn into a political football, with people picking up on the "treats for yobs" angle.

But, although the months of delay we've already experienced are disappointing, I'm not sure it will do much damage in the long term. What's more important is to resolve the difficulties as to how you get targeted services to those who need them most in a co-ordinated, holistic way.

The impression I get is that the Government is having trouble squaring the circle of how you target young people and make a youth offer available to all, while dealing with that very small handful of young people who have so many difficulties in their own lives and are seen to be causing difficulties in their communities. I'd rather have a delay and a better thought-out approach than have something put forward that will result in a fragmented approach to young people.