NO - Jonathan Morgan, assembly member and health spokesman for Wales, Conservative Party
I am opposed to the winding-up of the Wales Youth Agency. Consultation is crucial and we have had precious little of it from the Welsh Assembly Government so far on its proposals for quangos in Wales.
Questions need to be asked about why the Government now intends to change the Wales Youth Agency's status. I am proud of the fact that it was a Conservative government that established the Wales Youth Agency in 1992.
It is a body that has provided valuable support to young people throughout Wales and has helped the voluntary sector develop the capabilities of young people for more than a decade.
Wales' Labour government has a worrying obsession with scrapping independent bodies and bringing them into the civil service. If we want to develop the sort of service that the Wales Youth Agency has been involved in, then this is one body best left alone. The Government must explain how it can offer the same kind of support currently provided by the Wales Youth Agency. One wonders how ministers think the civil service can perform a better job than those currently supporting youth work in Wales.
YES - Janet Ryder, assembly member and shadow education minister for Wales, Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru, the party of Wales, believes that the Welsh Assembly Government's emphasis should be on the delivery of frontline services that are both responsive and suitable to the needs of the young people they serve.
Any policy changes should reflect these objectives. The decision on the Wales Youth Agency is a Labour Assembly Government one and the end result of delivering suitable frontline youth services is what their decision should be judged on. If this means that they can have joined-up government thinking on youth work - for example, the ability to engage both local government and the voluntary sector - then this may well be a good way forward.
YES - Peter Black, assembly member and Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesman for education and social justice
The Wales Youth Agency spends a considerable amount of assembly money.
It will be the role of opposition assembly members like me to ensure that issues of importance to young people get properly scrutinised. There are advantages in bringing the agency into the assembly. The agency will be able to build much closer links with the rest of the Government's agenda.
Culture, education, health and sports are all areas where decisions taken by the assembly impact on young people. Bringing the Wales Youth Agency under the assembly's umbrella is an opportunity for its influence to grow, not a threat to its existence. We need to get away from the traditional image of civil servants. Many of those who work in the assembly are young people themselves. Many are highly qualified individuals with expertise and experience in their area of work.
YES - Chris Llewelyn, head of lifelong learning, leisure and information, Welsh Local Government Association
The announcement that the work of the Wales Youth Agency would be brought into the assembly has generated considerable debate.
The proposal is consistent with the assembly's increasing focus on the youth support sector, as a result of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 and the associated Extending Entitlement Directions and Guidance 2002.
The Welsh Assembly Government's commitment to enhancing the status of youth work is welcomed.
But there are several issues to be addressed. These include a consultation on the plan involving current beneficiaries of the agency, the need for an independent voice for youth work in Wales and the need to ensure support for local authority youth services.
We look forward to working with the Welsh Assembly Government and will contact the minister for education and lifelong learning, Jane Davidson, at the appropriate time to consider how this can be achieved.
