This was, we were told, Boris Johnson's 'number one priority' but like his dozen other 'number one' priorities, Boris's youth strategy has been some time coming.
And for all the enthusiasm seen yesterday, it will be some time coming still.
Firm spending commitments will not be announced until next year, and much of what was
announced will be difficult to deliver, or will require the incumbent Labour government to deliver them for him.
Of course the limitations of the Mayoral powers makes this inevitable, and there is nothing wrong with a Mayor using his high-profile to promote new ideas.
But if all that was to come from this was a trailing of potential future Conservative national policy, then an opportunity would have been missed.
Thankfully, this does not seem to be the case and there are some welcome proposals in
here.
The most eye-catching, for me at least, is the proposal to provide greater support to Scouts, Guides and other 'uniformed' and 'non-uniformed' groups.
Now if this actually translates to lots of lovely new funding for the Scout movement then it will be warmly welcomed.
As a former Scout myself and as a some-time helper to a couple of Scout groups, I know just what a difference they can make to kids lives, and especially to those who are either withdrawn, unruly or otherwise directionless.
For many years, parts of the movement have been taken for granted and neglected. Many groups have either closed or become ineffective as a result.
In turn they have turned away and turned off kids who they may otherwise have helped.
If Boris can play a part in reversing that trend then he will have done some good work and I look forward to hearing the detailed proposals in the spring.
Voluntary Compulsion
However, like some other high-profile Johnson/Malthouse
proposals, these new ones have already run into some trouble.
The proposal to 'compel' unruly or anti-social kids into attendance at these groups has immediately been rejected by the Scout movement.
A spokesman told the
Times:
"The bottom line for us is that we want to work with young people, whatever their background. But forcing them to join just isn’t what we are about."
And he's right of course. The Scouts is an independent organisation which only succeeds with the full cooperation and dedication of it's members and their families.
If that cooperation isn't there, then the whole thing falls apart.
So while that one probably isn't a flyer, the direction is the right one, and there is lots more in the draft proposals which could work if properly thought through.
Their success or otherwise will depend on the sole dedicated concentration of Malthouse and the political leverage of Johnson, both of which have shown to be variable qualities so far.
But if Boris Johnson's mayoralty is to succeed, then it will depend greatly upon this number one priority, no mater how many others he picks up along the way.
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