Youth Services: Education bill requirements do not specify youth work sector

The bill sets out the requirement on local authorities to ensure services for young people are in place, promised in the Youth Matters green paper.

But it does not mention "youth work" per se.

Tom Wylie, chief executive of The National Youth Agency, said: "It is important for the youth work sector to demonstrate that it is the key methodology for the delivery of educational leisure-time activities."

Doug Nicholls, the general secretary of the Community and Youth Workers' Union, said his initial impression of the bill is that it is a step backwards from the 1944 Education Act, which said there should be adequate facilities for young people outside school work, provided by local authorities. The bill says that authorities should commission services from other organisations where appropriate. Nicholls said the union is looking at possible amendments.