Shaun Bailey, who is the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith and Fulham, told a fringe event hosted by CYP Now at the Conservative party conference that professionalisation was damaging youth work.
"Every single time, youth work is better done by the people in and around communities," he said. "All the youth work disasters I've witnessed have been caused by the person with the best qualifications – they have a great CV, but they're an idiot."
Bailey claimed the attitude of youth workers was far more important than their qualifications.
He also warned that too much cash was being pumped into career progression for professionals, as opposed to frontline services.
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