Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Letter: Brent drug wars

Don Macdonald
Monday 17 November 1997 00:02 GMT
Comments

Sir: As a community work professional who has lived for 20 years in south Brent, the area which has experienced four drug-related murders since the summer (report, 15 November) I have witnessed the lack of provision for young adults.

According to the Audit Commission report on juvenile crime, Brent has a model drugs prevention policy. But this cannot succeed without the right provision on the ground. The local youth club has been closed for a couple of years. Kilburn Skills, the voluntary training centre, was shut down recently. Two college centres have also closed and vocational training is now carried out in unadjacent boroughs.

Nationally, funds have been cut back drastically for both vocational training and youth services, while co-ordination is lacking between the multiplicity of agencies involved locally, regionally and nationally. Unemployment is falling but is still disproportionately high among young black men.

DON MACDONALD

London NW6

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in