Leading councillor warns of impact of new young offender legislation
Tuesday 30 October 2012
A leading Coventry councillor has warned that new rules around responsibility for young offenders could have a major impact on stretched Council budgets.
The new legislation, which comes into force in November, means Coventry City Council will have to pick up the bill for young offenders in the city who have been remanded to secure children's homes and training centres. Currently councils pay just a third of the total cost, with the Youth Justice Board paying the rest.
Although some funding is being passed on to councils when they take on the responsibility it will be cut by 15%; leaving a funding gap for Coventry City Council of up to £144,000 a year from next April.
Now Cllr Jim O'Boyle, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, has warned that the impact of the cuts could affect the Council's work to support vulnerable young people in Coventry.
"These changes affect young people and the budget we have to work with some of the most vulnerable youngsters in the city at a time when all of our services are facing massive budget pressures," he said.
"Many council services will be near breaking point over the coming year as the impact of government cuts increases while, at the same time, councils are expected to take on more responsibility for services like this.
"We have already started a number of intensive early-intervention programmes in Coventry which we hope will help us to improve the lives of many young people in the future, but the results will take some years to impact and won't help the young people currently on the edge of custody."
