Respect Taskforce disbanded as youth unit takes wider role

A new "Youth Taskforce" will take over the work carried out by its predecessor, but will have a wider remit to improve outcomes for children and young people. The move was announced on Friday (5 October) and will be headed up by Anne Weinstock, who has been director of the supporting children and young people group in the department since 2003.

The taskforce will focus on delivering "positive outcomes" for young people and will sit in the newly created Young People's Directorate. It will have a £20m budget each year for three years, with priorities for how it is to be spent still to be decided. The DCSF said the taskforce would place particular emphasis on expanding opportunities for all young people outside of school and will look at ways to support youth services in helping to prevent young people from getting into trouble.

The taskforce will be key to delivering aims set out in the government's Aiming High for Young People 10-year strategy, which was published in July. Children's secretary Ed Balls said the taskforce would take on the work done by the Respect Taskforce in helping youth services to turn young people away from anti-social behaviour and would "play a lead role in supporting local youth support services to focus more on preventing teenagers from experiencing serious problems".

Viv McKee, director of policy and development at The National Youth Agency welcomed the move. "It's early days and they're looking practically at the delivery plan from Aiming High but we applaud the determined focus on young people," she said.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has commissioned a cross-departmental review on how best to engage communities in the fight against crime. The work will be led by Louise Casey, who previously led the Respect Taskforce and will report its findings to a new ministerial group.

- www.dcsf.gov.uk

- See Editorial, p19.