Matt Lent, former director of policy at UK Youth and a trustee at Young Barnet Foundation, was probably talking for much of the youth sector when he described latest figures showing the extent of cuts to council youth service spending as “sadly not a surprise”.
Latest analysis of official data shows English councils spent £398m on services for young people in 2018/19, a fall of six per cent from 2017/18’s total expenditure of £424m. The fall continues a trend that began in 2010/11, when total council spending on services for young people was £1.18bn.
The analysis by charity YMCA England and Wales suggests the fall in spending is even more marked than the official figures show, as these fail to take into account inflation – it’s report Out of Service suggests spending on youth services in England has reduced by £959m in real terms between 2010/11 and 2018/19. The level of cuts tops £1bn when factoring in reductions in Wales.
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