Labour is proposing to make it compulsory for councils to provide a minimum level of youth services, particularly aimed at vulnerable young people, as a way of trying to tackle knife crime and other social ills.
The plan, which promises dedicated and guaranteed funding, would also create a national body to oversee the provision of youth services in England.
Announced jointly by the shadow cabinet team and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, the idea is being put to a consultation, with youth work groups and others encouraged to contribute by November.
Current legislation mandates that local authorities must provide sufficient “positive leisure-time activities” for young people. However, the law is vague, and councils have been able to reduce youth services amid wider cuts due to austerity.
The plan follows research commissioned by the party from the House of Commons library indicating that council spending on universal youth services in England has dropped by 52% in real terms since 2012.
Earlier research, carried out by the Unison union, said that from 2012 to 2016 more than 600 youth centres closed across the UK, a loss of 140,000 places for young people.
Labour said that with knife offences rising, access to good quality youth centres and other activities would form “part of a public health approach to tackling violent crime and to help young people fulfil their potential”.
Cat Smith, the shadow Cabinet Office minister for youth affairs, said cuts had “left youth services across the country devastated”.
She said: “With youth services targeted for budget cuts, the Tories have created the conditions in which crime can thrive, leaving young people vulnerable to violence and denied the opportunity to build a positive future.”
Khan said: “As violent crime continues to rise across the country, it’s more vital than ever that we get tough on the causes of crime, as well as crime. Labour in power will deliver a properly funded youth service that will not only help young people turn away from criminal activity, but will give them the chance to fulfil their potential.”
The idea of treating knife crime and other serious violent offences, especially among young people, as something meriting early intervention rather than just a policing response, is becoming increasingly common.
Such an approach had been particularly effective in Scotland, where the “proactive policies” with young people and gangs have helped, coupled with laws to make jail terms the norm for carrying a knife, to significantly reduce knife offences.
On Monday, the government said it was doubling funding for an early intervention scheme tackling violence among young people, from £11m to £22m over two years.
