OPINION: Hot issue - Will new money for youth make it to the front line?

Last month the Government announced an extra 54 million for youth work. But will its new blueprint be tough enough to force councils to actually pass that money on to their youth services?YES Anthony Lawton, chief executive, CentrepointWhat is now expected is explicit. There are clear standards, to be implemented by 2005. The funding mechanism will make more transparent what is or is not being spent. There are powers of intervention to respond to poor services. An effective Youth Service Unit at the Department for Education & Skills is fighting the youth work corner in government.Of course a local council cannot alone deliver the intentions of the blueprint. But provided national government is active from the top and local communities, including third sector organisations and young people themselves, are vigorous in securing political will, we now have an opportunity certainly to improve, perhaps to transform things.And yes because, in the words of economist David Landes, in this world the optimists have it... because they are positive... pessimism can offer only the empty consolation of being right. We will not get another opportunity if we miss this one.YES David Parkinson, executive officer, APYCOThe Association of Principal Youth & Community Officers is very pleased that central Government has chosen to focus on the needs of young people. With partner organisations, it has produced new guidelines for standards of youth service provision as well as identifying new money. This is a positive step for the youth service.There is great diversity in terms of expenditure and provision for young people across the country, and the new youth sub-block grants to local authorities should help to improve levels of resources, particularly in areas where expenditure is very low.Despite this announcement of increased spending by central Government, we are beginning to hear suggestions that some local authorities are going to find it difficult to actually increase the amount they spend on services for young people. While we are naturally concerned about this, we have every expectation that they will rise to the challenge before them.NO Moira Hill, head, Manchester Youth ServiceThe Government has promised a 5.9 per cent increase in youth service budgets and has published figures in the new youth and community block of the education budget, signalling that most of the money should go to the youth service. Manchester Youth Service will not get a 5.9 per cent increase and will be allocated less than half the figure quoted in the youth and community block: 8.2 million (the youth service budget is around 3.5m). The apparent increase in the youth service block has in fact been taken from elsewhere and it is disingenuous of the Government to expect it to be passed directly to the youth service. In Manchester the budget this year is under pressure due to disputed census figures, a reduction in school budgets and the Standards Fund and the need to pay teachers wage increases.The Governments blueprint is laudable but it is nave to expect that years of underfunding will be rectified overnigh. The expectations that rightly go with the money will not, I believe, be demonstrated in practice. If it is serious about standards in the youth service the Government will need to demonstrate this through Ofsted, which will be inspecting the delivery of the new targets. I hope the first example of intervention in an inadequately resourced youth service will not be Manchesters.YES Kevin Ford, director of marketing, FPMAs a public and voluntary sector consultancy, FPM welcomes the recognition the Government has given to youth work and its value in enabling young people to progress to an adulthood with greater choice and possibilities. Resourcing Excellent Youth Services provides a frame-work through which good youth work can flourish and be properly supported. It is not just about allocating more money. It throws down the gauntlet to the leaders of youth services and youth work organisations to make their case with vigour and demonstrate the value of the work, with the promise that resources will follow. We look forward to seeing leaders rise to the challenge.