The closure of hundreds of youth centres and the loss of more than 4,500 youth workers were necessary to manage the economy, the Culture Secretary has claimed.
Lucy Frazer has announced a new £3m pot of cash of funding to provide young people living in areas that are blighted with antisocial behaviour with access to sports, drama and skills training this summer to boost their opportunities.
The policy forms part of Rishi Sunak’s antisocial behaviour action plan, and is backed by a £500m package of funding into youth services over the next three years.
But it comes against a backdrop of a near £1bn decline in spending on youth services between 2010 and 2019, according to the YMCA, resulting in the closure of 760 youth centres and 4,500 youth worker jobs.
Defending the cuts, Ms Frazer told i: “We took some tough decisions, a long, long time ago, which we had to take because of the state of the economy that we were left [with] by the last Labour government.
“But what we are focusing on now is targeted action to support young people. And this isn’t the end of the work that we’re doing.”
The Government has been forced to act on antisocial behaviour with the public increasingly believing the issue is generally ignored by the police.
Polling for the Government in January this year found that 54 per cent of people believe the problem is not taken seriously enough by the police, while 68 per cent believe the police have given up entirely on tackling low level crime.
Under the measures announced on Monday, outreach workers will help find young people to offer them opportunities to take part in sports and arts activities in so-called antisocial “hotspots” in an attempt to keep them away from “bad life choices”.
But Ms Frazer twice declined to say that the policies were a return to the “compassionate Conservatism” that typified David Cameron’s leadership of the party before 2010.
Asked why she was unwilling to frame the policies in such terms, the Cabinet minister replied: “I do think the Conservatives support people who are struggling, and I think that’s what you saw, during Covid, where the chancellor supported people who were particularly struggling. I think that’s what you’ve seen with the cost of living crisis. And I think that’s what you’re seeing with this programme.”
She added: “I’m not going to get into labels.”
The Conservatives are currently lagging behind in the polls, and Mr Sunak is facing a serious challenge when it comes to delivering on his five key pledges on the economy, NHS waiting lists and small boat crossings.
Ms Frazer insisted that the Tories “need to deliver on the things that we have said we are going to deliver on” if the public is to pay attention to what else the party can offer.
“I think once we have delivered those things – and people can see that we’re delivering and taking action – I think people will then listen further to the other other things that affect them in their daily life. What we’re focusing on at the moment is cutting inflation. Because that is what will significantly make a difference to people’s lives day in day out.”
