A letter from the National Audit Office (NAO) to Ian Merry, the former Connexions Direct employee who sparked a probe into the service (YPN, 4-10 October, p4), acknowledges a "change in focus" from the Connexions Direct pilot to its roll-out in July 2004.
When essentiagroup took over the Connexions Direct contract in July 2004, reports stated the service "would not change". But the audit office's letter to Merry states that the DfES decided to change the approach taken by the pilot, which involved personal advisers offering a level of support to young people similar to a counselling service, to a "call centre model", which involved advisers referring young people to other services for face-to-face advice.
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