Her speech got what can best be described as a lukewarm reception, especially her plans for the opportunity card in delivering the Youth Matters proposals.
Whatever she thought, it was unlikely she was mentally adding the six delegates who grilled her about the new scheme to her Christmas card list.
Two weeks on, the minister describes her mood as one of regret rather than anger. "It's unfortunate that what came across was an attitude about their own feeling of a possible loss of control," she says. "But, more importantly, it was not aspirational and adventurous for young people themselves - and that's what I regretted. We've got to lift our sights."
Mixed reactions
She says other delegates came up to her as she left the auditorium after her speech to say that not everyone agreed with the negative tone and focus on opportunity cards, and that she has subsequently received numerous emails and letters to the same effect.
Hughes sees the opportunity card as a big part of one of the strands of the youth green paper: things to do and places to go. But she emphasises that it is also symbolic of one of the underlying principles of Youth Matters: the participation and involvement of young people in the supply of youth services.
She takes issue with the likes of Jeremy Glover, chief executive of Bolton Lads & Girls Club, who sees the opportunity card as a "gimmick that won't have any impact on the lives of excluded kids in his target group" (YPN, 16-22 November, p15).
"I respect somebody in that position, but I just don't agree," says Hughes.
"And I do find it depressing that some people take the view that we can't be more aspirational than simply responding to the situations disadvantaged and excluded kids are in."
She says youth workers might need to help those young people use the card, but that if they can be helped to use it and access activities, it would widen access to leisure pursuits and enable young people to spend money in ways they choose.
"For kids who haven't got money, that would be a tremendous experience," she says. "OK, they might need help with it - so let's see if youth services can provide them with that help."
For Hughes, this is the heart of the green paper: what it can deliver for disadvantaged young people, whether through leisure activities or targeted support. "That's what will make the difference in terms of opening up opportunities to kids who haven't got them now," she explains.
Proposed pilots
The cards will be piloted in eight local authority areas from April next year and Hughes concedes that no-one knows if they are going to work, but that "that's the point about the pilots".
"The proposition is about giving disadvantaged young people money on a card and testing the idea to see if that results in them being able to take part in the type of activities that other young people take for granted," adds Hughes. "It's as much about social inequality and social mobility as anything else."
Traditionalists might argue with this definition of social mobility, and see opportunity cards as another step along the road to eroding the importance of non-formal education within youth work. But the youth minister's definition of youth work in the context of Youth Matters is somewhat different.
"Primarily it's about activities rather than informal education," she explains. "Constructive activities, things that are going to enhance young people's enjoyment and leisure. There will probably be opportunities in some of those activities for self-development, for getting new skills through sport or whatever that might be, but I want activities to be the primary focus."
She explains that those young people who can afford to spend money on activities now are already doing so, "and that's not threatening the existence of people who work in the youth service". "We're talking about extending those opportunities to other young people and creating a critical mass of information about demand that starts to influence what is provided for them," she says.
Youth Matters appeared to reaffirm the Government's commitment in 2002's Transforming Youth Work: Resourcing Excellent Youth Services to provide one youth worker for every 400 young people and spend at least 100 a year on each young person.
The National Youth Agency's annual audit of youth services for 2003-04 showed local authorities were still some way off achieving that target, posting figures of 71 per annum per young person, and one youth worker for every 540 young people (YPN, 20-26 July, p5).
One of Hughes's Labour colleagues, the new chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs, Ed Miliband, is among those urging the Department for Education and Skills not to ignore the supply side of youth services in the surge towards the demand-led approach epitomised by the opportunity card (YPN, 9-15 November, p11). He urged Hughes to ensure there is proper investment, echoing the Prime Minister's pledge to invest in youth services in his third term (YPN, 5-11 October, p2), even though there is no extra money for supply-side initiatives attached to Youth Matters.
But this is where the youth minister's wider definition of "youth services" comes in again.
"Bringing together lots of different funding streams for local authorities gives them the flexibility to use those resources much more creatively and get more out of those funding streams than is possible at the moment," says Hughes. She points out that 1bn is already being spent on "youth services" by authorities, a lot of which comes from central government.
"We're committed to increasing local authorities' revenue and giving them flexibility," adds Hughes. "That's why we put an equal stress on the demand side in the green paper, because it's important for local authorities to be flexible about what young people want and to spend money in ways in which young people feel they've had a say."
She says this isn't downplaying the supply side of services, just emphasising the participation of young people in decisions. She also believes local authorities will get enough resources in the next financial settlement to allocate sufficient funds to the youth agenda.
Flexible resources
"They will get a reasonable settlement this year and it'll be up to them how they allocate that money," she says. "I want them to continue their investment in youth services, but they must also think more broadly about what the definition of a 'youth worker' is."
Hughes says there are many people doing "youth work" who aren't in the youth service - and that they deserve equal consideration. "They could come in through an imaginative local workforce strategy, get qualified and actually join the workforce," she says.
She sees the new role of sports development officer outlined in Youth Matters as an example of this new breed of "youth workers". "They're working with young people," she points out. "The youth service has that informal education role, but there's scope to think more broadly about how we harness the potential out there to enable young people to get a better offer across the piece."
Ultimately, Hughes believes some young people will want to do sport, some will want other activities, and some will want contact with youth service workers: "We need to make all these things and more actually happen and be available, so that young people can make those choices."
