News Insight: Revealed -- True scale of youth service cuts around the corner

"We are the only local youth provider and young people will have no safe place to meet if our project goes."

This is just one of the comments made by statutory and voluntary youth organisations in response to two surveys conducted by CYP Now into the cuts facing the youth sector.

In the largest study of its kind, more than 130 youth charities and 38 heads of youth services took part in surveys to establish the impact that public sector cuts will have on young people's services in the coming months.

Almost all (95 per cent) of heads of local authority youth services say their budgets for providing services to young people in their area are being cut. Nearly half of local authorities (47 per cent) face budget cuts of less than 10 per cent but one says it will have to cut its budget by between 61 and 70 per cent. Out of the charities that replied, the largest number (37 per cent) face budgets cuts of between 10 and 20 per cent, while seven per cent say they expect to lose more than 90 per cent of their funding.

Charities hit hard

The fear of funding shortages caused 82 per cent of the charities questioned to say they face the prospect of cutting projects, while 91 per cent of local authorities say they will lose entire programmes of work. The types of projects affected varied from area to area but youth clubs, teenage pregnancy schemes, positive activities aimed at young people who are not in education or employment and mobile youth provision featured predominately in replies.

Eighty-eight per cent of youth charities feel that young people will be adversely hit as a result of the cuts. One respondent says: "If we don't run events or they can't afford to pay they will be segregated and just hang out on the streets."

Another adds: "They will fail any council tenancies and become homeless. Children and families will be without support in their neighbourhoods."

Local authority heads of youth services share a similar view. Almost all (97 per cent) feel that young people will lose out as a result of the reduction in services. One explains: "Young people will not have universal services as a first point of contact for support. Young people will not have staff who support them in doing the 'leg work' enabling them to access support and opportunities."

Another says reduced budgets will simply lead to a "poorer service that is less accessible".

Devastating impact

The survey reveals that councils are being forced to pass cuts on to the voluntary sector despite the government saying it wants more local communities to deliver public services. The majority, 65 per cent, of heads of youth services say they are cutting funding for voluntary organisations in their area.

Cuts include freezing the money for positive activities for young people, reducing street-based youth work and scaling back youth counselling services. Funding for volunteering programmes, an area the government has vowed to expand, has also been hit in some areas.

The most commonly cited reason among charities for scaling back their work was due to a drop in grants from government.

Fiona Blacke, chief executive of the National Youth Agency, which helped compile the heads of youth services survey alongside CYP Now and the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Services (Chyps), says: "The results from this survey are of grave concern to anyone working with young people," she warns. "From this, it is clear that there is going to be a devastating impact on the lives of young people, particularly the most vulnerable in society. It is also clear that not only are local authorities going to reduce their services to young people, but that community and voluntary sector organisations are going to be affected at a local level."

The surveys also shed light on the extent of the job cuts facing the youth workforce. Ninety-four per cent of local authority youth services plan to make staff redundant, of which more than a quarter (26 per cent) say between 76 and 100 per cent of these jobs will be frontline roles. Job losses range from losing some part-time roles to laying off more than 20 workers in one local authority. Charities fare slightly better, with 62 per cent planning to make redundancies. One charity says: "Next year the whole team of 13 experienced face-to-face youth workers will be affected."

Worse before it gets better

The heads of youth services survey also reveals that the situation could get worse before it gets better. Ninety-seven per cent of respondents say they expect further cuts next year once the comprehensive spending review has been announced on 20 October 2010. The majority expect to have to find savings of either 11 to 20 per cent or 21 to 30 per cent.

David Wright, chief executive of Chyps, says: "The levels of savings already made, and those that are expected, will have a tremendous impact on young people. Perhaps most telling is where the survey highlights the different financial decisions already taken. It shows that access to services will vary enormously from area to area."

Susanne Rauprich, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, which helped to compile the survey of youth charities, believes the results show that the government will need to make money available if it intends to help empower grassroots youth projects.

"You can't achieve excellence in education without investing in youth work," she says. "Cutting youth services now is risking the loss of vital support to the most vulnerable at a time when it matters. Big visions like the big society need small investments."

To view the full results, visit cypnow.co.uk/doc

CYP Now's campaign is raising awareness of the importance of young people's services. Sign the pledge at www.foryouthssake.co.uk.

HOW CUTS WILL HIT YMCA NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

YMCA Northamptonshire is having to face up to the realities of scaling back crucial support services for young people.

Its 12-, 16- and 19-bed hostels are currently funded through the Supporting People programme and face possible closure unless alternative sources of money can be found before next March. The funding cuts will also affect the level of support it can offer to young people once they move out of the hostels to live independently.

The council instead plans to place young people in their own flats and provide them with two hours of support each day.

But Richard Poole, youth and community manager at YMCA Northamptonshire, believes that won't be enough. "Many of the young people we work with will struggle to hold down a tenancy on their own. They'll probably end up being evicted for drinking or antisocial behaviour. They'll then find themselves being told they're not entitled to accommodation as they've made themselves intentionally homeless," he says.

The charity's youth bus, which is funded via an area-based grant, will also go unless alternative funding can be found this month. The bus has been running for 10 years and goes into areas of high deprivation, providing activities for children and young people.

The YMCA is looking to other sources of funding but Poole says it is incredibly difficult at this time. "We've applied to a plethora of charitable trusts but the market is completely saturated," he adds.