A new generation of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ will be created in South Gloucestershire, Conservative councillors have warned, following a ‘farcical’ council meeting yesterday evening (Monday 10th September).
Labour and LibDem councillors united to channel council youth funding to just six communities, leaving all the remaining centres to compete for the money that’s left over, including centres in Thornbury, Hanham, Oldland, Little Stoke, Chipping Sodbury, Winterbourne and Wickwar.
Although opposition councillors performed a partial u-turn by increasing the ‘positive activities’ fund that centres and clubs could bid into from their original £227k figure, they refused to increase it to the £520k that Conservative councillors had proposed in order to provide a more level playing field for every youngster across the district.
The 3.5 hour meeting had to be adjourned several times in order to understand the authority’s complex new constitution that accompanied the change to the bureaucratic committee system in May. Speaking after the meeting, Bradley Stoke Conservative Councillor Rob Jones said:
“Although the LibDems and Labour backed down from their original position of setting aside just £227,000 for positive activities, they refused to increase it to the £520,000 proposed by Conservatives, which would have benefited many more youngsters. Concentrating funding in just a handful of communities to the detriment of others simply isn’t fair and is a slap in the face to council tax payers who pay into the system As this farcical meeting showed, Labour and LibDem councillors seem hell-bent on creating a new generation of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ – that’s simply unacceptable. As many of the young people who spoke at the meeting said; areas that are not classed as priority areas at the moment will quickly become priority areas if they lose funding for positive activities, whether that’s provided through a youth centre or through other means.”
Cllr Keith Cranney, Conservative councillor for Stoke Gifford ward, who presented a 650-name petition in defence of Little Stoke youth centre, said:
“Despite the community’s best efforts, including gathering a petition, last night’s council meeting seems to have stacked the odds against Little Stoke youth centre remaining open. But we will keep exploring ways to ensure that local youngsters continue to have access to the positive activities that they need and deserve.”
Hanham Conservative Councillor John Goddard said:
“Although Hanham is not one of the council’s six areas of highest deprivation, many local youngsters are, in fact, vulnerable or at risk of becoming vulnerable.
Yet our centre will have to fight it out with other unlucky centres, including nearby Oldland youth centre, for the much smaller fund that Labour and LibDems reluctantly created.”
Conservative councillor for Winterbourne John Godwin, added: “It’s incredibly disappointing that yet again opposition councillors resisted an opportunity to finally introduce fairness into the way the council allocates its youth resources.”