As council budgets are being revealed around the country, youth services are facing some of the biggest cuts. Haringey’s youth services face a 75% cut, whilst in Hackney jobs will be cut by 50%.
Suzanne Beishon, London Youth Fight for Jobs
Alongside massive cuts to youth centres and youth worker jobs, services like Connexions, the careers guidance service for 13-19 year olds, also face huge cuts or even extinction.
Head teachers have warned that more than two million young people in England will lose out on careers advice if the government’s cuts are pushed through.
These cuts cannot be taken lying down. While the government raises tuition fees and scraps EMA payments to students, local councils are taking away the already limited services that are available for young people locally.
Lewisham is the council area with the highest youth unemployment rate in the country with 35.8% of 16-24 year olds unemployed. And yet Lewisham council is about to close the Connexions services after already closing Opening Doors which offered similar advice.
Youth Fight for Jobs has organised a protest outside Connexions in Lewisham to demand that the service is kept open.
As well as this, Youth Fight for Jobs alongside Day-Mer Youth and a group of youth workers in Hackney have launched ‘Save Hackney Youth Services’ and are organising a protest on 4 April outside the council’s Children’s and Young People Scrutiny Committee meeting.
