Knife crime prevention being ‘seriously hampered’ as councils left in dark about youth offending funding

Exclusive: Local authorities yet to be told how much money they have to tackle youth crime this year, more than two months after they had to set their budgets

Local councils say uncertainty around funding allocations are making it 'extremely difficult' to plan the services that support young people and keep them out of the youth justice system (Alamy)

Efforts to tackle soaring levels of knife crime and county lines activity are being “seriously hampered” because funding for doing so has not yet been announced by central government, council leaders have warned.

Local authorities are still waiting to hear how much money they will receive to tackle youth offending this year – more than two months after they had to set their budgets.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, told The Independent this was making it “extremely difficult” for councils to plan the services that support young people and keep them out of the justice system.

Anntoinette Bramble, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said: “Councils are determined to do all they can to protect young people and keep them safe, but their efforts are being seriously hampered by the lack of clarity around such a vital source of funding.

“Funding for youth offending teams has already more than halved since 2010, and the government needs to act now by announcing it will at least maintain existing funding levels this year.”

Youth offending teams, which are embedded in local authorities to work with young people who get into trouble with the law, have seen their funding slashed in recent years, halving from £145m in 2010-11 to £71.5m in 2018-19.

Campaigners said it was “scandalous” that councils were still in the dark about funding for youth offending teams for this year, and urged ministers to guarantee them the resources required to help prevent young people from getting involved in crime.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said: “Youth offending teams play a crucial role in preventing young people becoming perpetrators or victims of crime.

“At a time of rising youth violence, these delays are especially unacceptable. Youth offending teams have already faced eye-watering cuts under the Tories and these delays risk further undermining public safety.

“You cannot keep the public safe on the cheap so as well as providing the outstanding funding quickly, the government must guarantee them the proper resources needed to help prevent young people from getting involved in crime in the first place.”

Rhammel Afflick, a youth campaigner who works closely with young people in some of London’s most deprived areas, said government pledges to tackle youth violence would not be feasible without the “crucial funding”.

“It’s quite frankly scandalous that local authorities are in the dark about funding for youth offending teams. The issue we face is deep-rooted – we can’t afford to stall,” he added.

It comes after an analysis by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Knife Crime found that the areas suffering the largest cuts to youth spending had seen bigger increases in knife crime.

Official figures meanwhile show there has been a continuous rise in children being identified as victims of exploitation within county lines gangs, which groom young people and offer them large amounts of money for selling class A drugs in rural areas.

Given the recent surge in knife violence among young people, the LGA said funding should at the very least be maintained at last year’s level.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The number of children entering the criminal justice system for the first time has reduced 85 per cent over the last decade and continues to fall.

“For the last two years we have given the Youth Justice Board more than £70m to allow local authorities to provide the best possible services for children and help them turn their backs on crime.

“The budget for the coming financial year will be set shortly.”