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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Nicola Bartlett

Tories slashed Youth Services by £1billion as knife crime exploded, Labour claim

Youth Services services have been decimated by cuts of £1bn since the Tories came to power, according to Labour analysis. 

It comes amid rising knife crime, the explosion in county lines drugs trafficking and growing mental health concerns in young people. 

Labour research reveals that public spending on youth services in England has fallen by 73% since 2010. 

More than 750 youth centres have closed their doors since 2012 and 14,500 youth and community work jobs have been lost since 2008. 

The number of fatal stabbings last year was the highest since records began in 1946

In 2017-18, 8,650 assessments by children’s services in England noted young people as being vulnerable with gangs identified as an issue. 

This included 1,290 cases from the north-west and 3,130 from London, up from 3,680 in 2014-15.

The party is launching a new national ‘Youth Service Guarantee’ to end the postcode lottery for young people and ensure every young person has access to high quality youth work in their community regardless of their background and circumstances.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will announce a 'Youth Service Guarantee' (Getty)

Launching ‘Only Young Once’ Jeremy Corbyn MP will say: “Life for young people in Britain today is far harder than it needs to be, and worse in many ways than it was for previous generations. We need services that can meet the complex challenges faced by young people today. 

“We need services that will nurture and empower young people to improve their own lives.” 

Their universal youth service aims to provide all young people with extra-curricular activities to build aspiration, encourage engagement in arts and sport, enable active citizenship and provide a safe space to develop social groups.

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