The LGA has warned that youth services are “under threat” without fresh investment in local grass-roots provision for young people.
It is calling for the tens of millions of pounds that were previously spent on the National Citizen Service to be devolved to councils and invested in local youth services.
The warning came alongside an LGA survey that found two-thirds of councils have not increased spending on youth services in the past five years.
Nine in 10 councils said they needed government funding to support investment into youth services, while revenue expenditure for overall youth services has stayed the same, or decreased, in 61 per cent of councils.
Despite these pressures, councils are trying to secure investment into youth services. The research found that, over the next three years, 42 per cent of councils said they planned to increase the number of hours of youth service support offered.
Cllr Arooj Shah, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Youth services give essential support to young people – providing them with a safe place, trusted relationships and positive life experiences; stopping them from being drawn into negative situations; and reducing demand for acute services further down the line.
“Without adequate funding, many local youth services remain at risk of being reduced or are in danger of being cut altogether. To protect these essential services, increased funding is urgently needed, such as reallocating resources from the National Citizen Service.”