Cuts will 'decimate' Connexions

A survey of Connexions services, which provide careers advice and guidance to young people, reveals more than one in 10 face budget cuts of up to 50 per cent, with one in seven stating they are suffering reductions of £2m or more.

Out of 65 heads of Connexions, 56 responded to the survey. More than one in five said universal services will come under the most strain, with high street Connexions centres and guidance in schools particularly at risk.

"For these cuts to take place half way through the year you have got to at least double the figure to make the required level of saving," claimed Paul Chubb, director of Careers England, the membership body for careers guidance organisations. "You cannot, under any circumstances, describe cuts of this magnitude as efficiency savings. What we are seeing is the decimation of a universal public service for young people."

Katharine Horler, chair of the National Connexions Network, expressed shock at the findings. She claimed many councils risk reneging on their statutory duties to offer impartial advice and guidance to all young people, and assessments for young people with learning difficulties.

"What you will end up with is a postcode lottery where young people in certain parts of the country receive little or nothing in the way of advice and guidance," she added.

Although many respondents do not yet know the full extent of the damage cuts will bring, almost one in five said they will have to let at least 60 people go, while some face making up to 200 redundancies.

Connexions is largely funded by the Department for Education (DfE) area-based grant, which was cut by £311m last month. But a DfE spokeswoman said: "The reduction in grant for 2010/11 does not imply local authorities should only look to make savings in those areas directly funded by that grant."

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