Tom Wylie, chief executive of The NYA, said: "This paper will create a new platform for work with young people in all our communities. It is a measured document with many positive features, not least the proposals to involve young people in decision-making and the clear duties to be placed on local authorities.
"We have argued for both of these for some time. Indeed, our Hear by Right programme, developed with the Local Government Association, is the leading framework for organisations to use to set standards and improve their active involvement of young people.
"We would though like to see a more thorough treatment of workforce development issues in this paper. It is essential that services for young people are able to recruit and retain enough sufficiently skilled personnel to allow the work to move forwards. Our recent audit of England's local authority youth services, for example, showed, on average, that nationwide there is just one youth worker for each 540 young people. This is not enough.
"Nonetheless, overall the paper strikes a good balance between continuity and change. It deals well with complex, cross-cutting themes; it finds some welcome words for youth work as a form of professional intervention. And, importantly, it offers the prospect of drawing together effective local services for young people through the co-ordinating duty of local authorities, working in partnership with others.
"Now it needs to be backed with substantial investment to ensure its vision becomes a reality."
The green paper, entitled Youth Matters, analyses the transitions of young people to adult life and highlights the difficulties that some face in making these. It notes the roles that parents, schools and others play but its primary purpose is to "reform existing services in England" to create a "coherent, modern system of support". It places these proposed reforms within the agenda set by Every Child Matters and of 14-19 education changes and wishes to see them completed by 2008.
The NYA will now arrange a series of consultations with young people and others to prepare a detailed response to Youth Matters. The Government's consultation period runs for 15 weeks.
Among the proposals in the paper are:
- Creating more opportunities for places to go and things to do, and strengthening the role of young people in determining these through the development of an "opportunity card", providing discounts on a range of activities. It also plans to invest in an "opportunity fund" to be spent at young people's discretion on improving local facilities
- New legislation to clarify local authorities' duty to secure purposeful activities and statutory guidance on a new set of national standards for provision
- A network of sports development managers and more summer residential opportunities. The recent Russell Commission proposals on voluntary action will be implemented Clear minimum standards for information and guidance are also proposed
- It seeks to provide intensive, personal support to vulnerable young people by merging some existing funding programmes and by giving local authorities working through children's trusts the responsibility, resources, authority and incentives to lead the development of local plans
- Structurally it calls for a single body - the local authority working through children's trusts - to have lead responsibility and accountability in each area for youth policy
- The full version of the green paper can be found on the DfES web site at www.dfes.gov.uk.
