All council-run Staffordshire youth clubs set to shut in £102m cuts

Recommendations are now in place to shut 34 clubs in Lichfield, Cannock, Brewood, Stafford, Stone, Gnosall, Wombourne and in the north of the county.

Staffordshire County Council's cabinet will make a final decision on the controversial proposals at a meeting on Wednesday.

Around 114 members of staff work in youth centres. Council bosses have not said how many, if any, will lose their jobs.

Bosses say the controversial move will see them deliver more 'tailored and flexible' youth services in the community. They say currently three-quarters of young people in Staffordshire do not attend traditional council-run youth centres.

In the future any youth clubs in the county would have to be run by other organisations such as schools, colleges, voluntary and community groups.

There are no immediate plans to sell off the buildings the clubs are based in, but bosses say they will assess the potential future usage of the buildings.

Mark Sutton, support member for public health and community safety at the council, said: "While we understand feelings are running high, it is important to remember that three quarters of young people no longer use these council run centres.

"In a sense this vast majority of young people have spoken too, by their very absence. They have made it clear that what we have isn't appealing to enough young people and that we need to change.

"In the past the traditional youth centre was probably the only option and they and the staff who run them have undoubtedly served us well, but there is so much more choice of activities available today and for this reason it is difficult to justify running a £8.7million a service which caters for only a quarter of young people.

"There is a huge array of clubs and organisations which many young people are already involved in, and we want to support these more to ensure they continue to thrive rather than run a council building which is so underused."

The county council launched a consultation into its youth service plans. Around 3,000 people took part in the survey, with many saying they valued youth centres and the activities held there and a petition containing more than 16,000 signatures opposed to the planned cuts was handed into the council.

If cabinet approves the recommendations when it meets next week, the county council will look at current provision on a district by district basis.

They will look at how much money should be allocated to each area and how the money should be spent.

Mr Sutton added: "We had originally planned to allocate a flat £50,000 to each district as part of the transition to the new approach, but it became clear during the consultation that different areas have both different needs and varying amounts of existing service provision, so we want to look at this in more detail and ensure we spend what money is available in the right places.

Staffordshire's youth service covers young people aged 13 to 19 and up to 25 if they are disabled. The service last year cost £8.73m to provide.