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Karen Buck |
‘Passport scheme is failing youngsters’
Just one in eight signs up to £1.6m project, says MP
KAREN Buck believes Westminster council is failing to reach out to its teenagers.
The Labour MP for Regent’s Park and Kensington North was speaking ahead of a national report she is writing on the provision of services for children and young people.
Her criticism focuses on what she described as the “woeful implementation” of the council’s Urban Youth Passport scheme.
The free passport gave people between 11 and 19 years of age exclusive offers, cut-price entry to libraries and leisure centres, free swimming lessons and a “host of other cool stuff” including DVDs, CDs and videos.
Designed to tackle anti-social behaviour, the scheme was launched two years ago at a hip-hop and break dance festival in Paddington.
The £1.6 million project was hoped to recruit more than 12,500 teenagers by the end of 2005.
But figures showing just 2,600 passports are valid of a possible 21,000 eligible has enraged the MP. She said: “One of the most important aspects of my job is reaching out to young people.
“What was good about this scheme is that it aimed to create a complete register of young people that could be used to find out their needs It was a great idea and I was very much in favour of it. It allowed parents to stay at work and get teenagers off the street by making things like libraries and sports facilities affordable.”
But figures released this week show that only 12 per cent of youngsters have bothered to sign up.
Ms Buck said: “Fewer than one young person in eight holds a youth passport. Even more astonishingly, last year, there were only 600 visits to sports centres where the passport was used.
“The council says there is ‘anecdotal evidence’ of use, but this is not an argument they would accept in any other capacity.
She added: “If Westminster is serious about young people, they should be making a quality offer to all young people, involving them in planning services, feeding them good information about activities and generally extending their reach.”
Sarah Richardson, lead councillor for children, said: “Similar schemes have been performing poorly around the country and the government has shelved pilot initiatives for a national scheme. Rather than knocking the scheme, we should be encouraging more people to get on board the scheme. The most recent Ofsted report reflects these achievements, saying that Westminster is running a good youth service that is seeing sustained improvement and is reaching a high proportion of teenagers, particularly in the poorest areas.” |
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