The Home Office has handed the management of the programme over to charity Crime Concern which officially takes over on 1 April but Bridges said the directorate will continue to be involved.
We will have an agreed plan between us, he said. The role of the Drugs Strategy Directorate will be to make sure that Crime Concern delivers, but also to make sure that we add value, and that the work is of a piece with the wider drugs strategy.
Roger Howard, chief executive of Crime Concern, said: We are going to be working with the Drugs Strategy Directorate, Sport England, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that the success that has been demonstrated really is the foundation for moving forward, and that Positive Futures becomes the national scheme for sport-based social inclusion programmes in this country.
Howard said Crime Concern will be looking at ways to develop the Positive Futures workforce, with the introduction of a National Vocational Qualification at Level 3 on substance misuse work with young people, to be implemented in all projects by March 2008.
He also said Crime Concern is looking at accelerated pathways for young people who take part in projects and want to work on them, and for part-time workers who want to increase their involvement.
