Parliamentary Scrutiny

Abstract

The evidence and arguments of two 2011 Commons Select Committee reports on Services for young people; government responses to them, in particular: their consideration of ‘open access’ youth work and ‘targeted’ work with ‘disadvantaged’ young people; their endorsement of commissioning as the way of providing ‘youth services’; their proposals for ‘measuring impact and value’ and on payment by results. Areas of agreement and disagreement between the Committee and the government, including on the role and future of the National Citizens Service. In the neo-liberal and ‘austerity’ contexts of the period, whether the enquiry could have made a stronger case for open access youth work and local authority Youth Services.