Chris Worsey

Plans to change youth services in Lichfield and Burntwood have been criticised by the man hoping to become the area’s MP.

Chris Worsey, Labour’s candidate for the next General Election says Staffordshire County Council needs to look again at proposals.

Chris Worsey
Chris Worsey

“I am really concerned about the extreme plan to abolish universal youth services being put forward,” he said. “The county’s proposals means the end to our youth centres and to our youth workers, who play a vital role in engaging young people in positive activities such as sport, arts and drama. Our youth workers are dedicated to promoting young people’s self-esteem, self-confidence and life chances.

“If the county council has its way, only teenagers and adults deemed to be ‘vulnerable’ will have a chance of accessing any kind of services.”

Staffordshire County Council is hoping to deliver savings by reforming the way youth centres are run.

They say that only one in five young people use the services provided and that changes are required. A consultation on the proposals is running until February 26.

But Mr Worsey believes greater clarity is needed about what the future could look like for youth services.

“The council has failed to define what it means by ‘vulnerable’ teenagers, how it would identify such young people, how it would set about targeting services to them and what kind of limited support would be available,” he said.

“This proposal from the Conservative-led council could not come at a worse time. From my work as chair of the Youth Unemployment Commission I know full well the big challenges currently facing our younger generation.

“There are nearly one million young people out of work in the country at present. We should be doing all we can to give our young people the skills and confidence to play a major role in our future economy.

“Cuts to the youth service will lead to higher youth unemployment and potentially lead to an increase in anti-social behavior.”

People can have their say on the issue via a survey on Staffordshire County Council’s website.

“I encourage everyone who knows and cares about a teenager and our teenagers of the future to have their say on this proposal,” Mr Worsey added.

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.