§ Diana OrganTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills why the money for the Positive Activities for Young People Initiative is not paid directly to youth and community services. [169880]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisPositive Activities for Young People is a targeted programme that aims to provide diversionary and developmental activities for young people aged eight to 19 years who are at risk of social exclusion or committing crime. There was no one organisation at the local level which covered the whole age group or range of activities. In order to meet the above objectives and to ensure that regional needs and priorities were met, Government Offices were chosen to administer the programme. It is also the role of Government Offices to work with local partners such as Youth Offending Teams and Behaviour Improvement Programme schools to ensure that the target group of young people is reached.
52 Lead Delivery Agents (LDAs) have been appointed across England to manage the delivery of the programme and the performance of the providers delivering the activities. In eight of the 52 areas the LDA role is performed by the Local Authority Youth Service.