News from Siân Berry: Ten years on from London riots, youth services continue to suffer

London’s young people have seen a ‘blighted generation’ after a decade of austerity has led to cuts in annual council youth service budgets of more than £36 million [1], a report by Green London Assembly member Sian Berry finds.

Published a decade after the devastating riots coincided with the start of deep cuts to council budgets, the report, London’s youth service cuts 2011-2021: a blighted generation, looks back at the effect that a 44 per cent decline in funding has had on council youth services since then.

Part of Sian’s long-term project of studying cuts to youth services started in 2016 [2], the latest findings show that in total, across the decade, over £240 million has not been invested in young Londoners by councils due to reductions in budgets.

The report makes the case for increased investment and support to prevent further negative implications on young people’s lives including education, career prospects and mental health.

Consistent cuts have left vital services without resources and staff needed to help them run, with data showing that more than 600 full-time youth worker jobs have been cut by London councils, reducing the average provision from 48 youth workers to just 15.

Not only have jobs been severely affected, but the report also identifies a loss of more than 130 youth centres, from a starting point of nearly 300.

The report also unveils the lack of rounded support for young women, with almost a third of councils across London stating they do not provide any girl-specific services.

Sian Berry says:

The shock of devastating riots on the street of London in the summer of 2011 should have cemented with urgency, the need for proper investment in young people.

“Instead, austerity policies got worse, squeezing council budgets even harder and my report highlights how we’ve lost vital youth centres and workers as a result.

“The young people who first pushed me into this work are adults now, and those who were in their late teens in 2011 are nearing their thirties. A whole generation of young people have been let down.

“As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, we must not forget that London’s young people are still bearing long-term losses in education, social lives, work and training opportunities.

“I hope that the Mayor and Government recognise the awful situation facing youth services and the highly damaging legacy of austerity.

“It is vital that they step in with all the recovery funding they can find to reverse these cuts and restore services.

The report highlights that, problems within young people’s lives and the lack of support available will continue to have a detrimental impact unless new investment in youth work is part of both the Mayor and the Government’s priorities for recovery funding.

Sian’s recommendations within the report also include ring-fenced funding to support girls and young women and projects in every borough that expand the horizons of women, not add to gendered expectations.