Youth services spending 'cut by £6.1m in four years'

Spending on youth services has been cut by £6.1m in the last four years by councils in Wales, a trade union has claimed.

Unison said that more than 100 youth centres have also closed and 360 jobs have been lost in that time.

A conference organised by Unison on Friday will be told closures "are failing a generation of young people".

The Welsh Local Government Association said councils were looking at new ways to keep services going.

Welsh academics and youth workers are set to attend the conference, where Unison said they will "map out an alternative, positive vision for the sector".

It will say that Welsh councils have been under pressure to make huge savings because of the spending cuts by the UK government.

Cutting youth work funding deprives young people, particularly those from poorer backgrounds, of support which helps them build confidence, learn basic life skills and access education, employment and training, states the union.

'Savage cuts'

Seven youth centres have closed this year alone, it adds.

Dominic MacAskill, Unison Cymru's head of local government, said: "At a crucial stage in their lives, young people desperately need the support well-qualified youth workers can provide.

"By forcing through savage spending cuts which devastate our local public services, the UK Conservative government is guilty of writing off the livelihoods and potential of so many Welsh youngsters."

Keith Towler, chairman of the Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services, and the former Children's Commissioner for Wales, stressed that youth centres "provide a safe place to meet friends, explore new experiences and allows young people to realise their full potential".

In response, a WLGA spokesman said councils are facing budgetary pressures and are "increasingly seeking to work with partners" as well as looking at "alternative models of delivery".

"Local authorities have faced significant cuts in funding during recent years and face a further £192m shortfall in the next financial year that will grow to £570m by the end of 2019-20," the spokesman said.

"Local authorities take their youth services responsibility seriously but inevitably the youth service is subject to the same budgetary pressures cuts as every other aspect of local government provision."

The UK government said the matter was a devolved one, while the Welsh government said it could not comment as Unison was criticising UK government cuts.