The Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services (SCVYS) report relates the experiences of local providers and young people to a national context.
It warns that there is “no coherent national youth work strategy, no obvious commitment to invest in universal services and under-developed links to formal education”, adding that these issues are “serious causes for concern”.
The report adds that talk of moving youth work policy out of the Department for Education and into another government department is undermining confidence within “a sector which has already taken a financial hammering”.
The top challenges facing Staffordshire’s youth services are short-term funding and lack of job security, the report says.
Other major concerns include a lack of involvement in commissioning with contracts often decided at national level and increased competition between public, private and voluntary sector providers.
It warns that these concerns come amid increased demand for services, with one voluntary youth organisation saying it had seen a 50 per cent rise in demand for its emergency food parcels.
Volunteer-run youth groups told the researchers that their chief concern was a lack of volunteers.
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