government (UK) papers – youth work

Picture: Boys at the Canterbury Club, part of the Oxford and Bermondsey Boys Club, listening to records on the club's radiogram in 1944. Imperial War Museum - sourced from Wikimedia Commons - public domain.Oxford and Bermondsey Club 1944

infed archives

1939-1959

Board of Education (1939) In the Service of Youth (Circular 1486), London, HMSO. See, also, Johnathan Roberts’ discussion: The significance of Circular 1486 – The Service of Youth.

Board of Education (1940) The Challenge of Youth (Circular 1516), London, HMSO.

Board of Education (1943) The Youth Service After the War. A report of the Youth Advisory Council appointed by the President of the Board of Education in 1942 to advise him on questions relating to the Youth Service in England, London, HMSO.

Board of Education (1944) Teachers and Youth Leaders. Report of the Committee appointed by the President of the Board of Education to consider the supply, recruitment and training of teachers and youth leaders (‘The McNair Report’), London, HMSO. Part two of the McNair Report on the supply, recruitment and training of teachers and youth leaders provides us with both a useful review of developments up to that point and a classic statement of the nature of youth work.

Ministry of Education (1945) The Purpose and Content of the Youth Service. A Report of the Youth Advisory Council appointed by the Minister of Education in 1943, London, HMSO. This Report of the Youth Advisory Council appointed by the Minister of Education in 1943 (and published in 1945), provides a classic statement of youth work as non-vocational group work.

1960-1979

Ministry of Education (1960) The Youth Service in England and Wales (‘The Albemarle Report’), London, HMSO. The Albemarle Report (1960) provided youth work in England and Wales with a very influential rationale and framework – and was a key element in substantially increasing funding for youth work. See: Chapter 1: The Youth Service yesterday and today; Chapter 3: Justification and aims of the youth service; Chapter 5: Activities and facilities and Chapter 10: Recommendations and priorities.

Department of Education and Science (1967) Immigrants and the Youth Service (‘The Hunt Report’), London, HMSO

Scottish Education Department (1968) Community of Interests. Schools, Youth Service, Community Service, Further Education Colleges, Evening Classes and Sports Organisations, Edinburgh, HMSO.

Department of Education and Science (1969) Youth and Community Work in the 70’s, (The Fairbairn-Milson Report), London, HMSO. A collection of chapters from the ‘Fairbairn-Milson’ Report (1969).

Scottish Education Department (1975) Adult Education. The challenge of change. Report by a Committee of Inquiry appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland under the Chairmanship of Professor K. J. W. Alexander, Edinburgh, HMSO.

1980-1999

Department of Education and Science (1982) Experience and Participation. Review Group on the Youth Service in England (‘The Thompson Report’), London, HMSO.

HMI (Wales) (1984) Youth Service Provision in Wales. Education Survey 13. 2 vols., London, HMSO.

Department of Education and Science (1987) Effective Youth Work. A report by HM Inspectors, Education Observed 6, London: Department of Education and Science.

Ministerial Conferences Steering Committee (1990) Towards a Core Curriculum – The next step. Report of responses to the Ministerial Conferences Steering Committee Consultation Document, Leicester, National Youth Bureau.

Scottish Office Education Department (1991) Youth Work in Scotland. A report by HM Inspectors of Schools, Edinburgh, HMSO.

2000-

Department for Education and Skills (2002) Transforming Youth Work – resourcing excellent youth services, London: Department for Education and Skills/Connexions. (pdf file – requires Acrobat reader). Published in December 2002, this is the English Department of Education and Skills’ specification for youth services. It continued and refined the government’s ‘modernization’ attempt to alter the character of youth service work.

Scottish Executive (2003) Working and learning together to build stronger communities: draft community learning + development guidance – the Scottish Executive.

HM Government (2004) Every Child Matters: Change for children. London: Department for Education and Skills.

HM. Government (2005) Youth Matters, London: Department for Education and Skills.

Department of Education (Northern Ireland) (2005) Strategy for the delivery of youth work in Northern Ireland 2005-2008. Belfast: Department of Education.

Scottish Executive (2007) Moving Forward. A strategy for improving young people’s chances through youth work. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.

Welsh Assembly Government (2007) Young people, youth work, Youth Service. National Youth Service Strategy for Wales. Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government.

HM Treasury (2007) Aiming high for young people: A ten year strategy for positive activities. London: HM Treasury/Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Acknowledgement: Picture: Boys at the Canterbury Club, part of the Oxford and Bermondsey Boys Club, listening to records on the club’s radiogram in 1944. Imperial War Museum – sourced from Wikimedia Commons – public domain.