Going full circle? Integrating provision for young people in the Connexions service

Welfare initiatives introduced by New Labour have emphasised the integration of service provision by sponsoring the creation of new professional roles and by promoting closer interagency links. The Connexions service exemplifies these two levels of integration. This article argues that the process of integration in Connexions was limited and it offers two main types of explanations. The first set concentrates on the changes brought to the professional role of Connexions workers. The second uses the example provided by interagency links between schools and the Connexions service in order to explore the role played by power relations to explain limitations to integration. The article concludes with a consideration of some of the effects brought about by Youth Matters and by the introduction of Children's Trusts on the provision of services for young people in the future