By Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay
The loss of many of Kent youth services, including services provided by Ramsgate’s Pie Factory Music and by Pavilion Youth and Community Cafe in Broadstairs, in a programme of cuts could stave off the prospect of the county’s largest authority going to the wall, it has been claimed.
A new funding arrangement will see the end of Kent County Council (KCC) subsidies for youth clubs and other activities currently commissioned by the council but run by outside organisations.
It will save £900,000 and see the adoption of a new ‘family hubs’ model to perform legal obligations and allow KCC to access £11m in government funding.
Cllr Sarah Hudson said there was “no magic money tree”, warning the council faced being taken over by government inspectors if forced to issue a section 114 notice to effectively declare bankruptcy.
Critics have claimed the loss of youth services will affect youngsters’ mental wellbeing, drive some into gang crime and cost far more in the long run.
The Labour group at County Hall called a special meeting of the KCC scrutiny committee on December 19 to examine the proposals.
Cllr Alister Brady claimed there had not been a meaningful consultation and that government guidance was not properly followed.
He also said the views of young people affected by the cuts were not properly listened to.
The KCC leadership has long complained the cost of delivering its services cannot be met by the funding received from central government. Up to £86m in savings must be found next year, according to the council’s auditors.
Councils across the country are on the brink of collapse, claiming they are not receiving enough money to run the services they must by law.
Cllr Hudson said: “No one wants to cut services – we don’t stand for elections to do such things but if we don’t implement these proposals before us, an even worse fate could happen – section 114 – and a government inspector running the show and we would have nothing but the basics for families and young people.
“All these discretionary services would be scrapped. Isn’t it better for us to control things?
“This concept of family hubs is being embraced all over the country by authorities of all different political persuasions but gets us the added bonus of accessing £11m of government funding, too.”
KCC had to do the responsible thing in order to survive, said Cllr Hudson.
She added: “Discretionary services are exactly that – discretionary. There is no magic money tree. This is a Conservative administration making tough choices and not happy to to keep spending money we don’t have in the hope that someone else will bale us out.
“Section 114 will happen if that is the case.”
Labour group leader Dr Lauren Sullivan argued that some services to be lost are not discretionary but statutory.
She said that 16 year olds were most likely to be affected by the loss of facilities such as youth clubs.
Cllr Sullivan added: “What about those 16 year olds being picked up by those gangs and groomed in those gangs because there is nowhere to go? There is no youth provision in the family hubs model – it has not been defined.”
She warned that the providers may take legal action to have the proposals judicially reviewed and asked for any decision to be deferred.
Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Antony Hook claimed adoption of the family hubs was a “county-wide big bang” and suggested they should be piloted in a few selected areas first.
But Cllr Trevor Bond said that an £11m injection into family services is a “real big plus”.
Fellow Conservative member Shellina Prendergast said that “one of the consequences of ageing is that we forget that we were young once” and that the voices of the youth have not been heard in this case.
The decision for the cuts to go ahead, despite the public outcry, followed a two-month public consultation over the summer.
