Councils urged to develop volunteer-led youth offer

David Seward, chief executive of Berkshire Youth, said cash-strapped councils have created a “perfect storm” by removing funding for universal youth services – spending on English youth services fell 22 per cent between 2011/12 and 2013/14 – and not investing in prevention.

His comments come after a recent Cabinet Office survey of local authority youth services found a marked shift in favour of targeted youth services, with councils now spending more on targeted than universal provision.

Seward said the focus on targeted provision makes youth services unsustainable and wants councils to develop a volunteer workforce to continue the delivery of universal services focused on prevention.

He said: “Local authorities cannot afford to support the current cohort of targeted young people long-term, and without any investment in prevention they are creating a perfect storm.

“Perhaps working with the voluntary and community sector as partners they can look to build a preventative service, but councils must not think volunteers and services for free are easy to find.

“The support of volunteers and recruitment of workers takes a lot of time, energy and resources - which would still be cheaper in the long run.”

Seward suggests the government could support the approach by ringfencing money or creating a "10-year funding deal" for local authorities to support youth provision.

He said: “It would take this long to build the network of volunteers into something sustainable again.

“I don’t mind where youth work sits [within government] but it needs to have an active campaigner – former children’s minister Tim Loughton always appeared to have a passion for the work of the sector and was at least trying to raise the debate.”

A recent survey by Berkshire Youth found that children and young people who attend youth clubs will be happier and healthier than those who do not.