From the frontline - Who would benefit from a licence to practise?

There's the Independent Safeguarding Authority and the impact it will have on working practices, sensationalist media coverage of young people and the national financial crises, to name but a few.

But one of the biggest concerns has to be the move towards licensing youth workers and leaders. Most youth groups struggle to attract volunteer youth leaders as things stand. The introduction of a licence to practise for voluntary youth staff will only create a new barrier to people wanting to do their bit for the community. Little is known about the benefits a licence to practise will bring either. What, for example, will be the added value to the voluntary youth sector? How much will such a programme cost? And will it take staff and financial resources away from the core activities of working with young people?

Introducing a licensing system will no doubt create another expensive database of information - information that will constantly need updating and monitoring.

The impetus for such a licence seems to have come from the statutory youth work sector, which is looking for pay and recognition on a par with professions such as teaching. While volunteer youth leader training programmes can be a route into professional youth work, there is a distinct difference in the skills, qualifications and regulatory authority needed for the professional and the volunteer. Many volunteers simply want to be volunteers and don't want to spend their time training.

Additionally, the licence to practise debate highlights the problems the third sector has in receiving timely information about policies that may hinder its work with vulnerable children and young people. At present there is no effective way for smaller youth organisations to find out about legislative changes that may affect them.

Many organisations do not have the luxury of being members of an umbrella representative body such as the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services or the National Children's Bureau and therefore miss out on any consultation or legislative change until they read about it in the trade press. There needs to be a fixed system for the third sector and government bodies to engage in dialogue and exchange information.

Let's hope it's not too late for the voluntary sector to have a true input into the decision-making process about any potential youth work licence.

Mani Sherwin is a youth development officer working in London.