Election 2019: Campaigners back Labour's £1bn investment pledge for youth work
Fiona Simpson
Friday, November 22, 2019
Labour’s pledge to invest £1bn in services for young people shows “real hope for youth work”, campaigners have said.
Jeremy Corbyn vowed to end cuts to youth services and implement a National Youth Service guaranteeing all young people access to youth work in his party’s election manifesto.
Corbyn also pledged to shake-up the youth justice system with plans for youth services to work with local authorities and the police to prevent young people becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour.
In addition, he vowed to reduce the "disproportionate" levels of children of black and Asian minority ethnic heritage in custody - which recently topped 50 per cent for the first time.
Choose Youth chief executive Doug Nicholls said the manifesto sparked “real hope for the future of youth work and for youth work as a profession”.
“We are pleased that the Labour manifesto commits to building a new National Youth Service and an entitlement for all young people to quality youth work,” he added.
Kevin Garvey, policy officer at charity Onside Youth Zones said: “Labour announcing £1.1bn for their National Youth Service - to reverse what they say is a real-terms cut of £1bn across the sector since 2010/11. Positive to see all main parties and others seeing the value of investing in youth work at this election. It is much needed.”
The manifesto was published in the wake of campaigners calling on the next government for an end to cuts and more support for youth workers.
A “Youthifesto” published by Young Voices Heard called for youth services to be “restored and rebooted” and for youth workers to be “valued and recognised”.
James Cathcart, director and founder of Young Voices Heard, also called for young people’s voices to be recognised in parliament.
He said: “Young people may be too young to vote but not too young to be heard. As increasingly active citizens they deserve greater encouragement and representation when decisions are made about them, informing, influencing and participating in those decisions, with top-table recognition when they do so.”
Earlier this month, the National Youth Agency published a five-point manifesto calling for action to secure longer-term investment in youth services as well as the creation of local youth partnerships to improve uptake of services among young people and identify gaps in provision.
Leigh Middleton, NYA's chief executive, said "critical funding" for youth services was urgently needed rather than a "one-off fix" which would not be sustained in the long term.
