‘Rigged’ youth funding formula overhauled
But ‘second class’ youngsters may have to wait 3 years
An ‘unfair’ funding formula that treats thousands of South Gloucestershire youngsters as ‘second class citizens’ will be overhauled – but it might have to wait 3 years
At a special council meeting tonight (Wednesday 17th July), councillors agreed the change after new council analysis showed that young people with similar needs living in similar yet separate communities are being notionally allocated wildly different sums by the council. For instance;
- · each child in Tytherington (part of the Frome Vale area forum) is allocated £42, but in neighbouring Thornbury (part of the Severn Vale area forum), the same child is allocated £24;
- · each child in Westerleigh (part of the Frome Vale) is allocated £45, but in neighbouring Pucklechurch (part of the Kings Forest), the same child is allocated £23;
- · each child in Frampton Cotterell (part of the Frome Vale) is allocated £43, but in neighbouring Winterbourne (part of the Southern Brooks), the same child is allocated £24.
In a reversal of their previous position, Labour and LibDem councillors finally acknowledged the distorting effect of the Yate Youth Café, which requires a whopping £99,000 annual contribution by the council – more than 10 per cent of the authority’s total universal youth budget of £877,000.
The council will now serve notice to withdraw from the youth café, which is jointly funded by Yate Town Council, and re-allocate the savings to all 5 of the authority’s area committees so that they can fund more positive activities for youngsters.
Although a maximum of 3 years notice should be given to Yate Town Council, legal officers have been asked to negotiate an earlier withdrawal.
Cllr Rob Jones (Con, Bradley Stoke South), a member of the Children and Young People Committee who has been leading the Conservative group’s opposition to the council’s controversial youth changes, said:
“The issue of this rigged funding formula was brought to all councillors because we could not get agreement for change from the 7 LibDem and Labour councillors on the council’s children and young people committee.
This Lib-Lab u-turn is as spectacular as it is welcome because it has been wholly wrong of them to allocate wildly different sums to young people based on an unfair postcode lottery.
Defending the existing funding formula is defending the indefensible – it needs to change in order to be fair and so it’s disappointing that thousands of youngsters might have to wait up to 3 years to get their fair share of funding.”
Cllr Ben Stokes (Con, Boyd Valley) added;
“It’s not fair that a Pucklechurch youngster receives only half the amount that a similar youngster in neighbouring Westerleigh receives.
On behalf of the young people living in all the villages of Boyd Valley, we would like our money back and I hope that Yate Town Council agrees to an early withdrawal as soon as possible.”
Cllr Matthew Riddle (Con, Severn) added:
“Youngsters in Thornbury and the surrounding villages are being treated like second class citizens by this funding formula and are being told that they are worth half that of their friends on the other side of the A38 in the Frome Vale – such unfairness cannot be justified.”
Add Cllr Brian Hopkinson (Con, Bradley Stoke Central & Stoke Lodge) added:
“The unfairness of the existing distribution of the universal youth budget is most obvious for communities either side of the Frome Vale boundary - but this unfairness exists throughout the rest of South Gloucestershire.
We need to succeed in changing the formula because we need to get extra money into the Southern Brooks for communities like Bradley Stoke, Patchway and Stoke Gifford.”