Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responds to an announcement by the Government that it will develop a youth charter to support young people.
“Councils are fully behind the Government’s aspiration to support young people and help them to reach their potential, and it is good that the voice of young people is on the Government’s agenda.
“However if we really want to make a difference in young people’s lives then we need to invest in the local services that they want and need.
“Investment in youth work training is a positive step towards making sure we have a well-qualified, highly skilled workforce, but councils have already had to reduce spending on local youth services from £652 million in 2010/11 to £352 million in 2017/18 as a result of government funding cuts.
“As a starting point, the Government should look to devolving some of the money spent on the National Citizen Service scheme to help reverse some of these cuts.”