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Youth worker Nigel Dayes |
Youth club cuts uproar sparks rethink
THE head of children’s services at the Town Hall has pledged to review spending on youth clubs following the outcry over the impact of cuts on one of Camden’s biggest estates.
Lib Dem councillor Janet Grauberg admitted faults with the funding process after coming face to face with mothers, teenagers, police officers and local politicians concerned about the effect of proposed cuts on the Maiden Lane estate.
At a public meeting on the estate last week, Frank Dobson, Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras, weighed into the debate over cuts at Maiden Lane Community Centre, demanding Camden puts youth clubs first “at a time when youth crime is going back up”.
He said that Camden’s “accredited courses” scheme – in which youth services are judged by the qualifications young people achieve – was strangling the borough’s most deprived areas.
“This youth club works,” said Mr Dobson. “I say that, whether it meets any sort of fancy requirement from the government or the council. You can’t say that if you don’t have enough educational content you’re not going to get the money and young people can get lost. Camden has got to look at their priorities.”
Cllr Grauberg and fellow Lib Dem councillor Ben Rawlings faced criticism over the decision to cut Maiden Lane’s £35,000-a-year funds. The Lib Dems have been attacked for claiming to be trying to save the youth club – even though they are the largest party at the Town Hall, where the cuts were made. Cllr Rawlings drew catcalls when he suggested Camden had no powers over how it chose to spend government money.
Cllr Grauberg insisted decisions made by council officials were “not political in any way” but acknowledged that current funding plans, which last 18 months, were too short for youth clubs to find their feet. “I don’t think it gives organisations like this the stability they need,” she said.
“I have asked for a review of that and we are trying to move to three-year funding. I’m not sure we’ve got the balance right between the money we give to voluntary services and our own services. Virtually all the money we get is focused on particular target groups.”
Teenager Charlie Wade, 16, asked Cllr Grauberg: “So what you’re saying is if you become a young offender you get help?”
The youth club has earned a last-minute reprieve through a separate funding request of £15,000 but councillors and parents warned it was only a temporary solution to the problem and have called on the council to guarantee its future.
Teenage view:
‘The estate was full of crackheads.
If you cut funding there will be more crime’
Nigel Dayes, a youth worker: “A lot of the young people that come to the youth club are not ready to access an accredited course. We’re not into number crunching. Young people are individuals but they come together here and they engage.”
Awate Suleiman, 18, former Acland Burghley School student: “The estate was full of crack dealers, crackheads, murderers. The youth centre took it away to an extent. If you cut the funding there will be a lot more crime.”
Trisha Sharratt, of United Maidens mothers group: “I can assure you there is a need on this estate. It takes time to get these kids to trust – we have just reached that stage. Now it feels like all our work will come to nothing.”
Sergeant Chris Jones, of Cantelowes Safer Neighbourhoods Team: “It would be an absolute disaster if services were cut. It gives us a chance to interact with kids positively and it would be a real shame.”
Roger Robinson, Labour councillor: “I don’t think the funding issues of this estate were discussed at any time with parents and that is appalling. We need a proper funding policy of five years or three as a minimum.”
Ben Rawlings, Lib Dem councillor: “The way the government has funded youth services for the last 20 years is nothing short of a national disgrace. We need a hell of a lot more discretionary spend. We don’t have that kind of freedom.”
Frank Dobson, Labour MP: “It seems an odd time to stop a youth service when youth crime is going back up. They’ve got to look at priorities. If more money needs to be put into the youth provision budget then |
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