I was very proud, at our party’s Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, to move a motion calling for revitalised and refunded youth services (things such as youth clubs, outdoor education, youth advice/information and so on) and supported the amendment to the motion which called for the funding of these services to be placed onto a statutory footing.

I was very proud of our party when the motion (as amended) was given unanimous support by Conference.
This helped to reinforce previous party youth policy which, in large part, is thanks to the work of my friend and colleague Linda Jack who has many, many years of experience in the youth and youth work sector.

As this is national Youth Work Week, I renew our call for the government to stop punishing young people for being young people and to follow our lead and ensure these vitally-needed youth services do see their funding placed on a statutory footing, to give both those running them and those who use them the security of knowing the threat of the axe from local councils has been removed.

I talked in my speech at Conference about how many (mostly Conservative-run) local authorities up and down the country have drastically reduced or cut youth services.

When these services are cut it is, more often than not, young people from the least well off and most vulnerable families that lose out.

Our leader Tim Farron and our party as a whole have made sticking up for these families a key part of his and our platform.

He’s shown that on a number of fronts, most recently and notably acting to try and put a stop to the Tories disgraceful plans to cut tax credits which, if allowed to proceed, would again hit many low-income households.

Youth workers up and down the country do a fantastic job which deserves all of our respect, but many increasingly feel demoralised at this government’s apparent indifference to their role in inspiring young people, in helping them when they need guidance and support and, in some cases, being the only people young people can turn to for help.

We need an urgent mapping of youth services across the country to take place, to see where there are gaps in provision, and we need to ensure there’s ongoing support and professional development for youth workers.

We also need to ensure there’s no barriers to these services for specific groups, including LGBT+ young people, BAME young people, those seeking to access mental health provision for children and young people, and in terms of socio-economic divides.

To help ensure youth services and youth work remain high on the agenda for our young people, myself, Linda Jack, and Jack Davies of Liberal Youth recently founded Lib Dem Friends of Youth Services (you can find us on Twitter at @LDFOYS) to campaign on these important matters and we’ve now formed an executive of fantastic people to help us do so.

If you’d like to get involved please do contact us on Twitter or me individually via @HulbertMathew or e-mail me: [email protected]

I’d like to end, again as part of this Youth Work Week, by paying tribute to youth workers across the land for the amazing job they do.

I pledge to always be their champion…in our party and beyond.

* Mathew Hulbert is a parish Councillor in Leicestershire.