The following Early Day motion has been tabled by Tom Blenkinsop.
YOUTH WORK AND THE YOUTH SERVICE
16.11.2010
Blenkinsop, Tom of Middlesborough
That this House values highly the work of youth workers and the youth service and believes that these need urgent protection from unfair and disproportionate cuts in local authority and voluntary sector provision; recognises that through their unique voluntary relationship with young people youth workers are able to give highly cost-effective support to them and, through a process of informal learning, personal and social education, increase young people’s participation as active citizens in local and national democracy, re-engage them in education, make lives healthier, improve access to learning, strengthen information, advice and guidance, support partnership working, participate in structured leisure time activities, stay out of the youth justice system and play an active and voluntary part in their local communities, provide experiences that enable free association and fun; and notes that Joint Negotiating Committee-qualified youth workers are trained to sustain adult volunteers in community activities and successfully fundraise for services from a range of sources and maintain creative partnerships between local authority and voluntary sector providers; and calls on the Government urgently to review the compliance by local authorities with the Education and Inspections Act 2006 with regard to youth work provision and to find urgent ways to protect youth services from the current severe round of cuts.
Early day motions (EDMs) are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. However, very few EDMs are actually debated. Instead, they are used for reasons such as publicising the views of individual MPs, drawing attention to specific events or campaigns, and demonstrating the extent of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view.
Why bother?
Although there is very little prospect of EDMs being debated, many attract a great deal of public interest and frequently receive media coverage.
In terms of using this EDM positively it would be brilliant if all our supporters contacted their MP’s asking them to sign the motion or explain their reluctance to do so. A pretty painless way of doing this is to go the Write To Them website, where you put in your post code, follow some simple steps and off goes your missive.
In addition Julie Hilling, MP for Bolton West, a former President of CYWU and long-time Wigan youth worker, has secured a Westminster Hall Debate on the Youth Service on November 23rd in the morning. We will check Hansard the day after for a transcript of the discussion, which we will post on the site.
Certainly it is worth putting pressure on those elected to represent us in what Denis Skinner describes as ‘The Palace of Varieties’.
IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH WORK 