Back in late November we attended one of the Youth Sector Collaboration events organised by the triumvirate of NCVYS, Ambition and UK Youth, along with encouraging folk to respond to the on-line consultation. As it was we were taken aback by the  closed nature of the invite-only final event in Windsor.

On January 19 the consultation findings and proposed actions were presented in a Youth Briefing paper, upon which we hope you will reflect.

Youth_Sector_Consultation_findings_and_proposed_actions_-_Jan_2016

In the next few days we will post a number of responses in a spirit of critical debate. Bernard Davies will offer his initial reaction tomorrow.

In the meantime we will leave you to ponder, given hostile government policies towards young people across successive administrations and the complex fractured nature of the youth work world, these remarkably confident assertions.

Government and the youth sector are united in their aim to improve outcomes for young people

UK Youth, Ambition and NCVYS will lead the youth sector to achieve these outcomes

We will launch a collective impact project to bring the sector together

We will co-develop the Social Development Journey to become the framework for a 21st Century Youth Sector

In responding we will be asking, where this leaves the proud and distinctive tradition of youth work as informal education, an unpredictable person-centred journey with no necessarily pre-determined destination?