SENIOR education figures will speak at a national conference on young people and social exclusion, to be held in the North-East this month.

Education watchdog Ofsted's chief inspector, David Bell, will be the main speaker at the two-day event.

The conference has been organised by the Co-ordination of Social Inclusion Programmes (Cosip) partnership, based in Durham.

The event will be attended by 30 statutory and voluntary organisations to co-ordinate activities for young people at risk of social exclusion.

Other speakers include Howard Williams, a senior lecturer at Cardiff University, Paul Garvin, the Chief Constable of Durham Police, and Mark Lloyd, the deputy chief executive of Durham County Council. The event will be chaired by journalist and broadcaster Carole Barnes.

The conference will look at youth policy, examine multi-agency working and investigate how early intervention can help vulnerable young people. The conference will start on April 14 with events at Durham University, followed by a dinner at Durham Castle, at which the speakers will include The Northern Echo's editor, Peter Barron.

The main session will take place the following day at Hardwick Hall, in Sedgefield.

Cosip chairwoman Christina Blythe, the head of County Durham's Youth Engagement Service, said: "This is an excellent opportunity to show how County Durham partners work together to help create safer communities by providing quality opportunities for young people"