Youth services and youth violence - House of Commons, 10 October 2018

The LGA has set out our vision for youth services as part of our Bright Futures campaign. We are calling on the Government to develop a similar vision that recognises the important contribution youth services make to our communities.

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Key messages

  • With responsibility for delivering over 800 different public services, councils are uniquely placed to deliver youth work and youth services as part of a broader package of services for young people, which could include housing, education, health and employment.
  • Councils’ youth services have a vital role to play in supporting young people to develop skills and interests beyond the limits of a school or family environment. 
  • The LGA has set out our vision for youth services as part of our Bright Futures campaign. We are calling on the Government to develop a similar vision that recognises the important contribution youth services make to our communities.
  • Councils also have a duty to protect children and young people from involvement in and the impact of youth violence, including organised crime, serious violence and modern slavery.
  • In order to deliver a range of services for young people councils need guaranteed, long-term funding commitments to ensure that they can develop programmes that will consistently protect and care for all children and young people, but especially those that are vulnerable.
  • Since 2010 councils have worked hard to manage a core reduction in funding of £16 billion through innovation, efficiencies, scale-backs and the decommissioning of non-statutory services. We now face a £7.8 billion funding gap by 2025.[1]  
  • We welcome the Government’s recent announcements regarding new pots of funding to tackle issues around crime and young people, through the Serious Violence Strategy, the Early Intervention Youth Fund and the Trusted Relationships Fund.
  • Without sustained and continuous funding, these ring-fenced pots will struggle to deliver long-term benefits for the young people themselves, or for their wider communities.
  • We are becoming increasingly concerned by the activity of county lines gangs that often exploit children, young people and vulnerable adults to commit crimes. They use coercion, intimidation, violence and weapons to assert control. This is an issue which affects all local areas, it is not just something that happens in major cities.