GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

statutory services like libraries have been decimated by the current

Government and in local authorities, so how would we protect that and how

would we ensure that actually all young people across the country receive a

quality service rather than the Cinderella sort of postcode lottery we currently

see? As far as the policy development, where do you see the costly NCS? I

would be interested in that. Also, we see currently lots of youth workers across

the country are forced more and more to be involved in case work in terms of

further work that is not actually youth work, so how would you see that in

ensuring that youth workers are able to do youth work rather than actually

social work? Thank you.

CAT SMITH: I think they are cracking questions. In terms of the national standards,

a Labour Government would have national standards, but have the freedom to

develop things creatively locally, so it might look different, but you would have

that set of national standards to make sure. Dara, you have hit on the problem

which is how do we future proof what we build and I was saying just a moment

ago how quickly it got dismantled. You had a Labour Government that built up

a youth service that looked fantastic and within minutes of the Coalition

Government you began to see it being dismantled until we get to the point now

where it is very difficult to hand on heart say we have a system of youth work

across this country, because it is so fragmented and a postcode lottery.

How do you future proof it? Obviously, all legislation that a Labour

Government could pass could be rolled back, but we need to pass that

legislation, but then also make people value it. One of the protections that we

have, and it has not always worked, I will be honest, is that with the National

Health Service it becomes so politically unacceptable to attack it that we almost

need to build in that sort of love for a national youth service that we have for

our National Health Service to make sure that people are willing to defend it.

When it comes to the NCS I think one of my biggest frustrations with the

National Citizenship Service is that it works really, really well for young people

who probably do not really need it and all too often, and I think they would

probably admit this themselves, they are not always reaching out to the young

people that desperately need to have youth work and youth work has to be

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