ABSTRACT
Different local agencies brought their own perspectives to the issue. The police, in particular, were concerned about the links between this youthful congregating and delinquency. Aside from delinquency, social services representatives expressed concern about young people ‘at risk’ and about the problems of ‘criminalisation’ and the limited opportunities open to young people, especially those from more socially deprived backgrounds. Health professionals were concerned about the health risks to which the young people were exposed, education representatives were concerned about the presumed connections between truancy and exclusion and a supposed ‘hard core’ of more troublesome young people. Housing service officials were concerned about the neighbourhood nuisance, criminal damage and tenancy relations issues emerging in those areas where the local authority was the major landlord. Youth service workers expressed their concerns about the limited facilities available to (or in the price bracket of) most of the young people with whom they worked but, above all, they criticised the lack of meaningful consultation with young people about community needs and facilities. All too often young people were talked about, typically they were talked about as a problem. Rather less often were they talked to, still less did they appear to be listened to.
