Funding for youth services in Tower Hamlets has fallen by 72% between 2010/11 and 2018/19, according to new analysis of Government figures. Within this period, local authority budgets across London for youth service provision were slashed by a total of £132 million. This comes against the backdrop of the intense financial pressures imposed upon local authorities in London, as a result of a decade of Government austerity. Local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, is calling on the Government to “repair this damage” and to carry out its duty to support vulnerable young people and “defend them from the grip of crime and gang exploitation”.
According to London Councils, local authorities in the capital have suffered a 63% reduction in core funding since 2010, equating to a total of £4 billion in real terms over this period. London Councils report that this has led to local authorities being forced to cut back on investment in key services in order to protect child and adult social care budgets. This has had an impact on youth services across the capital, such as leisure, cultural and sporting activities. In Tower Hamlets, there has been a reduction of £13,202,000 since 2010/11.
In 2018, to mitigate the impact of Government cuts, the Mayor of London established his £45 million Young Londoners Fund which aims to deliver activities and early intervention initiatives across the capital, targeted at those most vulnerable to becoming caught up in crime.
To supplement this, City Hall also launched the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) later that year which operates as a public health approach model to tackle and prevent youth violence and domestic abuse.
The latest VRU report published last week, shows that violent crime cost the capital £3 billion last year. With this year’s Budget, the Mayor is planning to invest £12 million into the VRU, on top of the £14.8 million that is already being allocated, to boost its work with community groups, schools and health agencies.
Local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, said:
“Local authorities across the capital have been hit badly by austerity. This has directly led to councils having to make difficult, but often unavoidable choices when it comes to reducing funding for certain services in order to protect child and adult social care budgets.
“The Government has a duty to support the most vulnerable young people in our communities and defend them from the grip of crime and gang exploitation. Youth services in all their forms play a vital part in this, but they have sadly been stripped to the bone across the capital.
“To mitigate against the worst impacts of the Government’s cuts, City Hall has stepped in to deliver significant investment in early intervention initiatives and a public health approach to clamping down on violent crime. We now want to see the Government prioritising prevention measures in the fight against violent crime and better financial support for youth services is one way they can do this”.
Notes to editors
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Analysis of the latest available figures published by the Department of Education between 2010/2011 and 2018/2019, conducted by Unmesh Desai AM, has revealed that services for young people in Tower Hamlets were cut by 72% in this period;
- London Council’s report, London’s local services: investing in the future, outlines the scale of Government cuts to local authorities in the capital over the last decade;
- We are using the definition of the term ‘youth services’ as outlined in the Government’s section 251 budget guidance for local authorities:
‘Services for young people (aged 13 to 19) encompasses all local authority expenditure on provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities, including youth work and delivery of their duties to support young people to participate in education or training. The scope of the activities covered by this is defined in the statutory guidance issued in June 2012 by the Secretary of State for Education for local authorities on services and activities to improve young people’s well-being[1] and targeted support services for young people’ (p.49-50).
- More information about the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund can be found here;
- More information about City Hall’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) can be found here;
- The latest VRU report published last week, shows that violent crime cost the capital £3 billion last year. With this year’s Budget, the Mayor is planning to invest an extra £12 million into the VRU, on top of the £14.8 million that is already being allocated, to boost its work with community groups, schools and health agencies.
- Unmesh Desai AM is the London Assembly Member for City & East