Youth opportunity fund cash at risk as ringfence expected to go
Andy Hillier
Monday, June 7, 2010
Local authorities will be given the freedom to decide how to spend the remainder of tens of millions of pounds in youth opportunity and youth capital funds, prompting fears that young people will be denied spending power on youth services.
The funds were established as part of the Youth Matters green paper in 2005 and have proved popular for giving young people the power to decide how hundreds of millions of pounds of government money should be spent on youth projects and facilities.
But the government is expected to remove the ring-fence around the remainder of the £40.7m allocated to the youth opportunity fund and £26.5m allocated to the youth capital fund in 2010-2011 as part of its move to cut public sector spending and give councils more power over where funds are spent.
CYP Now has learned that some regional government offices, which oversee the distribution of the cash, have already been informed of the changes.
David Wright, chief executive of the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Services, said any decision to remove the ringfence was "very sad". "The ringfence ensures that money can only be spent by young people. The funds have given enormous numbers of young people the opportunity to get involved in projects," he said. "If it is gone, funding could well be cut back."
Essex County Council has already confirmed it has suspended its next funding rounds. Young people in the region were due to distribute £710,000 and £613,000 in youth opportunity and youth capital funds respectively this financial year. Sandwell Council also confirmed it was waiting to hear about its future funding settlements from central government.
A spokeswoman for YouthBank, which helps local authorities run grant decision-making panels, said: "The youth opportunity fund has been great for youth-led grant making. We hope the huge impact the youth opportunity fund has had on so many young people's lives will be recognised when funding announcements are made by the government in due course."
A Department for Education spokeswoman said that information on budgets and ringfencing has not yet been announced. "Local authorities are being expected to make contributions to savings and the Communities and Local Government department will be providing details shortly," she said.
