The forgotten teenagers
When did it all start to go wrong?
"A parliamentary report last year found that a rise in knife crime was linked to youth service cuts. "
"The government is building shops and other infrastructure, but where are the community centres?"
"We are investing ?560m over the next three years in a new National Youth Guarantee, so that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, including opportunities to volunteer."
A government spokesperson"If ministers want to tackle crime, they need to rebuild youth services. And that means investing much more than they've promised."
Unison.
"Almost two-thirds of youth organisations with incomes under ?250,000 say they are at risk of closure, with 31% saying they might have to shut in the next six months.The predicted closures come against a backdrop of years of chronic underfunding that has already forced at least 763 youth centres to shut since 2012. A further round of major cuts to local authority youth services is expected in the near future."
?Youth work could be the only answer to helping these children; a preventative service that provides support before problems arise.?
Anna Alcock, head of engagement and advocacy at UK Youth.Defence expenditure increased by 18% on 2020/21 spending levels to ?71.4 billion. This ranked Defence above that of HMRC, where spending decreased substantially by 52% to ?58.5 billion. Spending in HMRC was significantly higher in 2020/21 due to the support provided during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic through the Coronavirus Job Retention and Self-Employment Income Support Schemes. Continuing last year?s rise in department spending, a significant increase was once again seen in BEIS expenditure, climbing from ?54.6 billionr in 2020/21 to ?139.9 billion in 2021/22. Rather than the apparent one-off increase in HMRC expenditure seen in 2020/21, however, spending with BEIS is much more variable year-to-year.
Anne Longfield, the children?s commissioner for England, said the research was ?shocking but sadly, not surprising. A major funder said to me recently that he had wanted to substantially invest in youth provision but when he had sought applications, he found most of the services he wanted to support had already closed down,? she said.
Matthew Hussey, the public affairs manager of the Children?s Society, said another missed opportunity was the chancellor?s spending review in December.
?It was a chance to place children?s services, which include council-led support for young people like youth work, on a sustainable footing and give councils the resources they need to rebuild the support so needed by children and young people,? he said.
