Tomorrow the Local Government Association [LGA] and the National Youth Agency [NYA] are hosting a conference entitled, A New Vision for Youth Services. With such a quest we have no problem. Indeed we have just held a series of ‘Is the tide turning? events, within which the LGA/NYA desire ‘to consider what the youth services landscape looks like both now and in the future’ would have been appreciated.
However, leave aside the usual standard failure to recognise that the changing landscape is not the result of natural causes, but the consequence of almost four decades of neoliberalism, there is a glaring gap in terms of contributors and, almost certainly, of those attending. Whilst young people are given rightly a platform, youth workers and their organisations are nowhere to be seen. Where are the youth work trade unions or the Institute of Youth Work? Voices from the grassroots will be absent, not least because it costs £345 plus VAT to attend.
I hardly need to spell out the irony accompanying the location of this top-down event, dominated by senior management in one guise or another. It is being held in Transport House, the former headquarters of the Transport and General Workers’ Union (T&G), and also originally of the Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress. Although I must temper my sardonic tone, knowing that the building was ever the home of bureaucrats rather than workers.
Imagining a future beyond the instrumental and marketised agenda imposed on youth work, reflected uncritically in the day’s programme, for example, the National Citizen Service gets a slot of its own, will require the serious involvement of everyone involved in what has always been at its best a pluralist adventure. Perhaps tomorrow’s conference is a step on the way, but the early signs are not promising. We will be happy to be proved wrong.
Who should attend:
Lead members for children’s services, deputy directors of children’s services, youth work team leaders, organisations delivering youth work
Programme
| 9.30 | Registration and refreshments |
| 10.15 | Welcome and introduction
Cllr Roy Perry, Vice-Chair, LGA Children and Young People Board and Leader of Hampshire County Council |
| 10.25 | Launch of the LGA’s vision for local government’s role in youth services
Cllr Ryan Brent, LGA Representative on the National Youth Agency Board and Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Portsmouth City Council |
| 10.40 | National Youth Agency
Leigh Middleton, Managing Director, National Youth Agency |
| 10.55 | The role of local government in delivering youth services: panel discussion session
Cllr Ryan Brent, Local Government Association Michael Bracey, Corporate Director – Children, Milton Keynes Council Leigh Middleton, National Youth Agency Matt Lent, Director of Partnerships and Policy, UK Youth |
| 11.40 | Refreshments |
| 11.55 | Keynote speech
Helen Judge, Director General for Performance and Strategy, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Questions and discussion |
| 12.40 | National Citizen Service
Jonathan Freeman, NCS Localities Lead Questions and discussion |
| 1.10 | Lunch and networking |
| 1.50 | The voice of young people
Bernadette Killeen, Youth Involvement Team Manager, Leicester City Council Brahmpreet Gulati, Leicester City Young People’s Council Katie Walker, Leicester City Young People’s Council Elizabeth Harding, Chief Executive, Youth Focus NW |
| 2.30 | Chair’s closing remarks and introduction to workshops |
| 2.40 | Workshops
W1. Delivery models W2. Youth Services in Wales |
| 3.25 | Comfort break with refreshments |
| 3.35 | Workshops
W3. Youth Services and Social Cohesion W4. Mental Health and Wellbeing |
| 4.20 | Conference close |
IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH WORK 
Not sure many voluntary or faith groups could attend at that price either (that’s if any felt they wanted to contribute to the conversation)