However, the strategy must have not yet reached the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), based a full 300 metres away from the DCMS's offices in central London. When launching recently a consultation on ending the sale of energy drinks to children, there was no mention in the document of canvassing the views of children and young people on the issue.
The glaring omission raised the ire of youth services campaigner James Cathcart, who lambasted the DHSC and health minister Steve Brine on social media, calling for them to extend the consultation to schools and youth councils.
Speaking to Ferret, Cathcart said: "My point is about the approach to engagement - which they articulated in the Civil Society Strategy on one hand in DCMS but have totally undermined that commitment by grouping all children/teens/young people together as one group whom they want to consult about with everyone else EXCEPT them."
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