“Youth clubs can play an important role in supporting development and providing a safe space outside of school, and the major cuts to local authority funding over the last decade have been hugely damaging for children and young people. Funding cuts have led to the closure of community centres and Sure Start Children’s Centres, as well as youth clubs, and reduced the capacity of local services to support attendance, mental health and children with special educational needs.
“The most frustrating thing, as this report points out, is that the savings made as a result of these cuts are typically outstripped by the additional problems created down the line. These short-sighted decisions often leave school and college leaders to pick up the pieces. The new government has got to learn the lessons of what happens when local authorities and public services do not have the funding they need to function properly.”