Policy & Practice: Soapbox - Smart card programme must stayflexible to survive

I used to work on the Karrot scheme in Southwark, south London, a young people's access and inclusion project led by the Metropolitan Police Service. We learned a lot from the implementation of an incentive scheme, little of which seems to have been picked up by the proposed youth opportunity cards.

Don't let technology get in the way. Young people are always ahead of government technology. It is not worth spending money on cards and infrastructure, especially when such demanding and aggressive timescales are being adhered to. The Government is missing a major trick in my opinion. It is not taking the opportunity to test different systems for delivering the scheme; rather it is focusing on the single question: "Will giving a young person x amount of money increase the uptake of positive activities in that area?" A whole range of other enablers are now available that are far less expensive, logistically easier to deliver and sexier than smart cards.

The technology needs to be available to all partners in the scheme. Some areas have hi-tech youth clubs but others may be working out of a shed; smart cards are not much use for them to reward young people for turning up because they don't have the technology or the secure premises to use them.

An incentive programme is only as good as the rewards you are offering.

The scheme needs to be flexible in what it is offering and able to change what is on offer very quickly to respond to young people's preferences.

The connection between behaviour and reward has to be clear and, most importantly, quick. You have to make the young person think: that was worth doing, I'll do it again tomorrow.

The good news we found is that reward schemes can work, particularly if taking note of the issues above. And there is one final, major point for the Government as it presses ahead with the smart card scheme. Once it is properly tested and proved to be robust, it must increase the value young people place on the card by drawing in additional uses. For some of the young people we work with, simply getting themselves to school in the morning is an accomplishment. Well-established opportunity cards could link into school-recognition schemes, volunteering, community work and a whole host of other activities. Having invested in setting up and bedding in the technology, it makes sense to squeeze as much value out of it as possible.

- Got something to say in Soapbox? steve.barrett@haynet.com or 020 8267 4707.