Jacqui Belfield-Smith, who represents youth off ending services in England, highlights that the number of children entering the criminal justice system and serving custodial terms fell 90% and 85% respectively from 2009 to 2023 (see Interview).
However, when such incidents do occur, it's the extreme nature of them – often involving weapons and child victims – that erodes public confidence and trust in the system to tackle it, explains Belfield-Smith.
Following the Southport case sentencing, the government pledged new measures to prevent sales of knives to under-18s (see News). While welcome, it will not be enough to prevent further incidents of youth violence. We need a fresh approach that tackles the drivers of violence and puts provision in place to support young people.
Youth clubs and youth workers are a crucial element of that approach. Their value is illustrated in a recent survey of 10,000 13-to 17-year-olds by the Youth Endowment Fund that found young people who had been directly affected by violence were twice as likely to regularly attend a youth club than those who hadn't been. Meanwhile, around 60-80% of those affected by violence felt safe in a youth club.
At a time when it is hard for young people to find a safe space to just be, having access to a youth club can be a crucial protective factor and presents an opportunity to engage vulnerable individuals in activities to address risky behaviour.
The soon-to-be published National Youth Strategy could be the vehicle to pump much-needed investment into youth clubs. But it needs to be more ambitious than the £185mn currently touted. Unison estimates more than 1,200 council youth centres were closed during austerity. The strategy is the chance to reverse that.
One of the big ideas of Tony Blair's first term in office was the creation of a network of Sure Start children's centres – the state's response to the fact parents needed more support in those crucial early years. A generation on, the state needs to step in again to create a place in communities – be it called a club, centre or hub – to support young people and provide them access to youth workers.
