The card was to be the government's flagship youth initiative and would give every young person in England a smartcard that could be topped up with money to be spent on activities.
Following the failure of a similar Connexions scheme, it was understandable that the youth sector had concerns over costs and whether money would be best spent on frontline services. After months of deliberation, the scheme was shelved in February 2007, but £14.5m was later made available to run pilot schemes in nine areas. As this month's feature shows (see p14), those pilots are now providing young people entitled to free school meals and those in care with up to £40 a month to spend on activities.
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