It's conference season this month, and last week, I went up to Manchester for the Labour Party's annual gathering.

The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) held a joint fringe event with City and Guilds on the subject of youth unemployment, at which MP David Miliband – who chaired our commission on the issue – was on very good form. His argument was that local action was needed, as we had seen only ‘small beer' from the national government.