13 May Are further cuts to Youth services by the government leading young people into a world of crime and violence?
New analysis by the UK’s big five charities shows local council funding for young people and children’s services has been slashed by a third since 2010, exposing thousands to a world of violence and exploitation as they further slip through the systems cracks.
Recent figures revealed that in some parts of England, funding available to local councils has dropped by over 52%, equivalent to £3bn at a time when the need for crisis support and protection are at their highest ever. Julie Bentley, the chief executive at one of the five charities, Action for children, said: “Services are at breaking point and these alarming figures reveal the true scale of the devastating and dangerous funding cuts made year after year by successive governments”.
Despite the cuts mainly impacting areas in the north of the country, London boroughs faced the highest cuts overall with Westminster, Hackney, Newham, Camden and Tower Hamlets experiencing reductions to funding of between 45% and 52%. Greater London had an overall drop of 37% in funding. Westminster council’s funding per child was slashed by more than half from £1591 to £762. Councils across the country will face a funding gap of £3bn by 2025 with many of the country’s services having been already cut down or at risk of doing so. Since 2012 760 youth centres have shut down and over 1000 children’s centres have been closed since 2009.
Lorna Stephens, the centre manager at Hounslow Youth Centre believes that the government could be doing much more to help young people and will only see the cuts and violence increase over the coming years. “It’s absolutely horrible, we have people here banging on the door on Friday afternoons. In January we had kids come here setting off the alarms because they wanted to get in. We’ve had no generic youth club for three months, most of the other youth services around here have people on waiting lists and can’t deal with the amount of people coming in from other areas. The council made all workers redundant and disposed of all equipment without thinking of where the equipment could be reused.
Lorna also states that “The government is doing nowhere near enough for young people” though believes that the rise in crime and violence isn’t linked to the cuts in youth services but more to the fact that young people find themselves with nothing to do and start associating themselves with the wrong crowds. On further planned cuts by the Government Lorna states “There’s nothing left to cut, the only services left behind are statutory services such as children’s mental health and education which can’t be cut, does the government not realise that the people they’re cutting out today are the doctors, nurses police officers and politicians who will be running the country in 10 year’s time, it’s already a big enough mess as it is, they’re cutting their own throats”.
Debbie, who despite being made redundant by the council currently remains as a voluntary worker says “We’re running off of donations and fundraisers and only have just about enough to feed the people coming in and paying the bills. Most of the furniture and accessories around here have all been donated. Debbie also believes that the impacts of the government cuts to youth services won’t be felt for another 6 to 12 months due to the large majority of cuts only coming into force in December.
Though a lot of the problems and concerns are voiced by those who are in authority, it is important that the aspect of the young people who suffer the most as a result of the cuts have their voices heard. Two members of a Youth club in London had their say on the issue with contrasting beliefs. Romeo has been in and around youth clubs and other community projects for over 10 years and believes that they play a fundamental role in keeping young people on the right path. “I’ve been going around youth clubs since I was 11 and they showed me that I can do more with myself and gave me an alternative to going down the dangerous path that a lot of my friends unfortunately went down”. When asked on the rise in violence and knife crime and the increasing cuts to youth expenditure Romeo said “ It’s no surprise that violence has gone up in the country as more and more of the services available to young people are being shut down and closing the gateway of opportunity to them but the violence is a issue created by deep rooted issues in our society”.
Despite the young people who are being affected by the cuts, there are others who believe that cuts to youth spending and the closure of youth clubs won’t make a difference and that the damage has already been done, a former youth club member in South London who wished to be named as X stated “I went to a youth club myself when I was younger but all it done was make me want to go out and be around my friends even more, they had us just sitting all day, I didn’t feel involved or like I was bettering myself” . When asked on the issue of rising violence and increased cuts he said “The rising violence will continue as long as young people have friends and other influences around them that will brainwash them into leaving education and other valuable resources available to them and ultimately into a world of crime and violence.
Tom Isaac, a youth worker who supports victims of stabbings in Lambeth at a paediatric unit says they are experiencing an increase in young people who are being manipulated and having their weaknesses capitalized on and attributes this to the 40% decline in funding which mainly impacts the money given to youth support. “A lot of young people are already up against it because of the violence they see around them, and often their family situations. They are always looking for belonging, identity and purpose, and if they can’t find it in a healthy place, they go to an unhealthy place for it. That risk needs to be mitigated,” he said.“Often parents, social workers and teachers know the young people most at risk of getting groomed or exploited in crime or likely to carry a knife. They know they are the most at risk because of all the risk factors around them, but the ability to intervene is really lacking now.“And you can only cut so much before it starts spilling over. Young people and their families are not getting the support they need, and things are reaching crisis point. We can’t just work in A&E. You’ve got to be able to spot it earlier on and that’s where we really need to put some resource.”
Despite the scrutiny being continuously aimed at the hands of local councils and government officials for the continued cuts to youth services, they are still facing the rising issue in the number of youngsters going into care or child protection plans far overwhelming population growth, fuelling fears that the plight is at breaking point. This further explains why English councils overspent on children’s services by £800m in the financial year of 2017-18. English local authorities spent £8.85bn on services for vulnerable children, though the original budget was set at £8.03bn.
There have been many studies conducted into the possible effects that a youth club could have on young people. One study led by Prof Leon Feinstein for the department of education in 2005 found that young people attending youth clubs with a lack of control went on to become exposed to a higher likelihood of being a part of criminal activities and drug or drink abuse. This study led to the then children’s minister, Margaret Hodge declaring” These young people would have been better off at home watching telly than spending their time with others in this way”. Despite this study showing no signs of improvement to behavioural patterns or a reduction in potential criminal activity, another study carried out by Prof Joseph Mahoney, a child psychologist based in the United States who tracked the outcomes of 695 young people in California and concluded that those who engaged in extracurricular activities which were arranged would be less likely to commit criminal offences. His study showed the overall probability of any criminal activity in the future would solely depends on the quality of services being made available and if the opportunity to mix with those who are better managed aided by the formation of activities and leaders of youth groups who are able to understand the young people and command respect from them.
There is undoubtedly going to be more young people who slip through the cracks and fall into crime with more youth centres projected to close over the coming years but there must also be more done and made available to them throughout every sector to assure of a clear future and steer them away from crime and violence.
Hounslow Council, UK Youth Parliament in Hounslow, London Youth and London Youth Advisory Council were all approached for comment but offered no response.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-43668167
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48176397
