Julie Hilling
Main Page: Julie Hilling (Labour - Bolton West)Department Debates - View all Julie Hilling's debates with the Department for Education
(13 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
It is reported that youth services are taking a 25% cut on average and we know that some youth services are disappearing altogether. Will the Minister tell us how many youth projects have closed, how many youth workers have been made redundant and what he will do to ensure that local authorities fulfil their statutory responsibilities?
Tim Loughton
I cannot tell the hon. Lady how many but I will tell her that this Government are funding 63 myplace centres, the latest of which I opened in Bognor Regis just last Friday. In the next few weeks, the Government will produce their “Positive for Youth” policy, which will point to the future of new partnerships, new forms of funding and new ways of working together to ensure that our young people get decent youth services and a decent offer up and down the country. Reform needs to come to youth services in this country because the model under the previous Government was not sustainable.