Three in five principal youth officers say they do not have enough funding to deliver an effective youth service, and only one in five are at all optimistic about the funding situation for youth services nationally, according to an exclusive Young People Now survey.
Despite the extra funding for youth work promised in Youth Matters, principal youth officers have many concerns, with problems caused by local government finance settlements, the end of Transforming Youth Work funding and the lack of ring-fencing for youth work funding topping the list.
Youth work funding is suffering from a real schism, and youth workers could be forgiven for being confused. From one point of view it's all sunshine and flowers. Youth Matters and the Chancellor's pre-Budget report introduced 115m in ring-fenced money through the Youth Opportunity Fund and the Youth Capital Fund over the next two years, which youth minister Beverley Hughes has made clear must be treated as additional funding, not as an excuse to cut youth service budgets (YPN, 15-21 February, p3).
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