YES
By Adam Muirhead, chair, the Institute for Youth Work (IYW)
While it is important to understand that there is already a statutory basis for youth work in Section 507b of the Education Act 1996, it is pertinent to recognise that no one actually cares. Even if the law is being properly considered, we are still dependent on a local authority itself determining "sufficiency" of provision, and how much is "reasonably practicable" in support for youth work/leisure-time activities.
Our piece of law is so limp that even when North Somerset Council was beaten in court in 2012 over its youth service cuts, it wasn't the "insufficiency" of the remaining youth work that won the day, but the lack of due process in consulting young people.
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