From the Frontline: A fine line separates us from privatisation

Whatever else happens or fails to happen, huge cuts in public services will dominate politics and youth work for at least the next couple of years.

There is already a tangible atmosphere of demoralisation among youth workers. Under New Labour, our employment contracts became shorter, funding agreements shorter still, and our work increasingly paper-based. Risk assessment took precedence over all else, and high-profile child protection cases led to an environment where policy couldn't be questioned as long as it was presented as "safeguarding".

It remains to be seen whether any of this will change under the coalition government. Cuts remain the greatest certainty. After years of youth work's purpose and principles being diluted, I worry how much strength we have to fight for our jobs and services.

Those of us who aim to work alongside young people on endeavours of their choosing are already exhausted from the ducking and diving required to keep our projects afloat.

Local communities are unlikely to defend youth services that have become obsessed with tokenist accredited outcomes and short-term interventions. Neither can community backing be assumed in the voluntary sector, where the talk these days is of customers, business plans and market share.

This was illustrated recently when I suggested approaching another local organisation to do a joint funding bid, and a colleague told me this was impossible because it was our "competitor". I could hardly believe my ears.

Some voluntary sector managers are smugly predicting increased commissioning, as if it doesn't matter what the money is for or where it comes from. I am all for genuine community organisations, but there's a fine line between commissioning and privatisation.

From experience, I find the voluntary sector saves money mainly because contracts are shorter and wages lower. The sector has been seduced by cash, and we who work there find ourselves increasingly distant from the communities we should be part of.

For youth workers, the next few years will be characterised by less money, more corporate influence, and a focus on traditional "character-building" styles of work such as the proposed summer boot camps - the National Citizen Service. It's hardly surprising that some of us feel disenchanted.

From the Frontline is written by a London-based detached youth worker.