I was astonished and saddened to discover this week that the Government appears to have downgraded the importance it gives to Youth Policy.

The ministerial role in which Youth Policy is included, the Civil Society brief, has been moved by no-mandate Prime Minister Theresa May from the Cabinet Office to the so-called ministry of fun, the Department of Culture of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS.)

When based at the Cabinet Office, youth policy was at the heart of government.

Now, of course, this didn’t by any means guarantee good decision-making on youth-related issues and, indeed, I disagreed strongly (and continue to do so) with the Tories doing virtually nothing to safeguard the future of vitally-needed out-of-school youth services and the role of professional youth workers.

But I think it a clear downgrading of youth policy that it’s been moved to DCMS.

Youth Policy, by its very nature, covers a full range of issues and to see it moved to a ministry whose sole focus is culture, media and sport (as important as all three are) means, to me at least, that youth issues are set to be all-but forgotten by this government.

On Saturday, at the Social Liberal Forum Conference in London, we heard from a leading member of the British Youth Council (BYC), which empowers young people to have a say and be heard, who referenced a number of issues they were campaigning on…including ‘Save Our Youth Services.’

I was pleased, during the Q&A that followed, to make clear that we Liberal Democrats, following the motion that I successfully moved at Lib Dem Autumn Conference last year, are now the only party to have a policy for youth services to receive statutory funding…therefore ensuring their survival.

Thanks to the hard work, over many years, from a number of people including the wonderful and inspirational Linda Jack, the Lib Dems have some of the best policies on youth issues of any political party.

Of course, there’s always more to do and many of us will continue to press our parliamentarians and, through them, the government to do more and to go further to widen opportunity and access.

But, by downgrading Youth Policy from the Cabinet Office to DCMS, the Tories have shown how little they think it matters.

We Liberal Democrats must now be calling for the policy area to either return to the Cabinet Office or to be included in the responsibilities of the Department for Education, as we recognise the holisitic nature of education and how it is about much more than just what happens in the classroom.

As Chair of Lib Dem Friends of Youth Services (@LDFOYS), I intend to meet with as many representative groups of young people as I can to see how we can join together to ensure this important work remains high on the national agenda.

Our young people deserve nothing less!

* Mathew Hulbert is Chair of Lib Dem Friends of Youth Services and an Executive Member of the Lib Dem Education Association.