An uncertain future for youth work The review charged with slimming down Northern Ireland's government has proposed major changes for youth services. Dipika Ghose reports on what the plans are likely to mean for grass-roots youth work.

For a place with a population of fewer than 1.7 million and - for now - no direct rule, Northern Ireland has a large government. For a start, there are 26 district councils responsible for basic services such as litter collection. Then there are the four health and social services boards and 19 health trusts, not forgetting the five education and library boards that incorporate Northern Ireland's youth services.

In an attempt to slim down the province's oversized government, a review of public administration was launched in 2002. This review is now in the process of consulting on its proposals to simplify the situation.

Among these proposals are two options for the future of the country's five youth services, including handing over control of the services to district councils (see panel).

Patchy details

But while the review has outlined its proposals for youth services, some feel there's a lack of detail about what actual impact the plans will have on youth work.

Gerry McGuinness, head of youth service at Belfast Education and Library Board, says: "There is not enough detail on the implications for youth services if they went to local councils. My concern is that we have been part of the education service and the youth service should be located as such. If it goes to local councils, youth work could be treated as a leisure service, which is not what it is about."

Quality variations between councils are another concern for McGuinness, especially if the youth service is wrenched away from the education sector.

"At the end of the day we are interested in the needs of young people in educational settings," he says. "It may be a good thing for the five education and library boards to disappear but if you have up to 15 councils delivering youth work there may be variations in quality. How will you co-ordinate them and make sure they are equal?"

David Guilfoyle, chief executive of the Youth Council for Northern Ireland, is adamant that youth services need to be protected from the proposals.

"Whatever happens with the review, there has to be support for the youth service, which we view as educational in structure," he says. "Its statutory basis has to be retained too. If youth services go to district councils there will be a need to spend time building up support structures at ground level for each council, and with (public concerns about) rising water rates in Northern Ireland there is no guarantee of ring-fenced funding."

The Youth Council for Northern Ireland is holding a meeting this week for statutory and voluntary youth services to discuss the proposals and to forge a united position on the review's ideas.

Others believe the debate on the review is camouflaging the real issues: the need for joined-up youth service policies, a children's minister and a removal of professional "silos".

Pauline Leeson, director of Children in Northern Ireland, says: "If there is one flaw in the process it is a lack of debate over how the structure would meet children's needs. It is too focused on cost-efficiency and councils, but it should be about quality service delivery and customers." She adds: "There also needs to be more integration of education with health to provide a holistic approach for children and a more mature discussion on how Every Child Matters can apply."

Northern Ireland Assembly member Patricia Lewsley, a Social Democratic and Labour Party member and lead on the assembly's All-Party Parliamentary Working Group for Children and Young People, believes moving services to district councils could lead to fairer representation for republicans in unionist-controlled services.

"It could be argued that local councils could serve young people's needs better if they controlled youth services," she says. "But this depends on the priority they place on them."

Sinn Fein also believes that, if done correctly, the changes could introduce more accountability and diversity at senior level to combat discrimination in republican areas.

Combat discrimination

A Sinn Fein spokesman said: "The key issue that the review hasn't addressed is the large amount of quangos we have for such a small population, which are also staffed by ministerially appointed people from the same select pool. Discrimination has been planned in for years and the Government is being too media-focused. Talking about council numbers is catchy, but no-one is asking whether anti-drugs strategies would be better off delivered by local councils or a board. We need to make sure there are checks built in for all young people."

But while the public administration review has not addressed the need for more multi-agency working, the Education and Training Inspectorate's annual report has called for just that and emphasised the importance of youth work. Guilfoyle hopes this will translate into action.

He says: "The report says that the needs it has highlighted will encourage the Department of Education Northern Ireland to make money available for youth work."

THE REVIEW'S PROPOSALS

The Review of Public Administration has proposed two options for slimming down Northern Ireland's government that have implications for its five youth services.

The first is to transfer control of youth services from education and library boards to district councils, which themselves would be reduced from 26 to seven, 11 or 15. The other option is that the education and library boards are merged into a single Northern Ireland-wide education board that maintains control of services.

The plans are up for consultation until 30 September and the consultation document is available from www.rpani.gov.uk.