Comprehensive Cuts - National Council for Voluntary Youth Services

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1. Context
Since the May 2010 election NCVYS has been updating its members with
details of the impact of the government’s policies on the financial situation of
the voluntary and community youth sector (VCYS). 1
NCVYS and our members have been concerned about the impact of cuts on
young people, and we have undertaken a survey with Children & Young
People Now magazine (CYPNow) 2 to help us establish the size of cuts facing
the sector. The findings of this survey, conducted in September 2010, reinforce
the concerns felt across the voluntary and community youth sector about the
impact of the government’s austerity programme on young people.
2. Findings from the NCVYS/CYPNow survey
Main findings
The survey has revealed the far reaching nature of public sector cutbacks,
showing that most charities are already facing significant cuts to their
programmes, and that further cuts are on the way. 3 Those charities that were
able to put a figure on their losses showed that over £10 million has been cut
from the VCYS. We know this is only a snapshot of the losses, with 135
organisations responding to the survey during a two week period. The total
losses to the sector are likely to be a multiple of this figure. 4
The organisations who responded work with over a million young people and
many of them support other organisations who work with hundreds of
thousands more. Nearly 70% of the respondents to the survey had seen a
drop in income in the past year. Of those who hadn’t over 75% are cutting
projects in anticipation of cuts that they know will hit them next year.
1
NCVYS Financial Monitoring http://ncvys.org.uk/financial.html, now being updated at
http://ncvyspolicy.wordpress.com
2
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/
3
Further details are available on request
4
London Voluntary Service Council have estimated that charities and voluntary groups
in London have experienced funding cuts totalling about £50m in the past 12 months.
Cuts Should Not Hit the Poorest Londoners, London Voluntary Service Council (9
September 2010)
http://www.lvsc.org.uk/files/103340/FileName/090910CutsshouldnothitthepoorestLond
oners.pdf

2
Those organisations who have already felt the impact of cuts have had to deal with a substantial
reduction in funding. The graph below shows that most of the organisations facing cuts are affected by
the loss of over 20% of their funding. Nearly 10% of the organisations surveyed have already lost half of
their income, and many more of them are considering mergers and closure.
Consequently, whole programmes, many of which are targeted at the most disadvantaged young
people, are being cut, and hundreds of employees are being made redundant. Over 80% of the
respondents indicated that programmes are ending – a snapshot of the kind of projects shows that this
is work with NEETs, with young people at risk of offending, a skills and IT training initiative targeting
BME women and a counselling service around sexual health.
It is hardly surprisingly that almost 90% of the charities who responded think that the young people they
work with will be adversely affected as a result of these cuts. They highlighted that young people will
suffer from the loss of opportunities, support and advice available to them and also from the impact of
less qualified staff working with them. In many cases, the young people they work with have complex
needs and limited opportunities, and the loss of these services will be keenly felt. With 27 (20%) of the
respondents considering closure, and the vast majority of these (24) unable to suggest alternatives, it is
likely that the outlook for young people will get worse.

What the survey reveals about the sources of cuts
The majority of those who have experienced cuts have pointed to local authority cuts to grants that they
receive, in particular area based grants. A number of respondents have expressed concern about the
way some commissioned projects have been cut, often with little notice given. Other significant sources
of cuts come from central government grants and the reduction of grants from v for volunteering
initiatives.
The economic climate means that alternative sources of income are also more difficult to come by. One
charity has highlighted that ―individuals ... circumstances [are] changing for the worse, impacting on their
giving.‖ Others have pointed out that local businesses, also suffering in the recession, cannot continue
previous levels of support. Those who have been attempting to invest have found the recession’s impact
has hit investment income. Funding applications to trusts and foundations are becoming increasingly
competitive as the sector looks to them for support. Cuts hitting other organisations also affect those
who rely on them, for example, sharing a building with another organisation which has had to close.
With many of the government’s spending priorities remaining unclear, one of the most noticeable
aspects of the survey is the uncertainty surrounding the sector. Many organisations say that they do not
know what will happen, and although they are preparing for a future without the levels of government
support that they have received, the current financial climate makes it incredibly difficult to access the
resources they need to keep valuable projects running.
Workforce development
The survey also revealed that cuts are impacting detrimentally on workforce development. Over 70% of
respondents revealed that they are making reductions in their staff training budgets. In an environment
where more and more young people are facing difficult situations it is concerning that staff may not be
adequately equipped to deal with the complexities of these situations. It is hoped that the NCVYS led
Progress project will enable the VCYS to continue to invest in staff development. 5
3. Case studies
Northamptonshire YMCA
Northamptonshire YMCA is losing over £1m, the vast majority of its income, because the Supporting
People grant - cut by £30 million by the Department for Communities and Local Government - is no
5 Progress, funded by the Children’s Workforce Development Council, s owned and led by the voluntary and
community sector (VCS), and offers up to 25,000 accredited training places to VCS staff and volunteers working
with young people in England until the end of March 2011.
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longer supporting Hostel type projects. All their housing support, which prevented problems that can
lead to homelessness or institutional care, as well as five out of six youth and community projects, are to
be ended.
Children and Young People's Empowerment Project in Sheffield
The Children and Young People's Empowerment Project in Sheffield has lost £200,000, 40% of its
income, following cuts to local authority contracts. Their models, tools and training techniques have been
nationally recognised by the government and the National Youth Agency. 6 The cuts translate into a
reduction in their work with young people with disabilities and LGBT young people. They fear further cuts
which would hit other disadvantaged young people, such as BME and refugee and asylum seekers.
Wings South West
Wings South West work with young people in Bideford and the surrounding area of Northern Devon; one
of the most deprived rural regions in the UK. 7 They’ve lost £75,000, roughly 25% of funding, because of
cuts to local authority grants, the loss of youth sector development funds, and they also fear losing
further v funding. Their work with NEETs and those at risk of offending will end and, in an area where it
is less easy for others to pick up the pieces, these young people will have fewer opportunities to develop
skills and gain self esteem.
4. Overview of the cuts to central government programmes that have affected the VCYS
The first few months of the new government saw a number of schemes cut. The ending of the Future
Jobs Fund, which supported the creation of jobs for the young long-term unemployed, has greatly
affected the voluntary and community sector. For example, the NCVYS/CYPNow survey showed that
Berkshire Scout Enterprises have lost £300,000 from the Future Jobs Fund contracts being
discontinued. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has been asking its members to
submit details of cuts to an online spreadsheet, and both Hull and Ealing Councils for Voluntary Services
have commented on the detrimental impact of their ability to recruit staff following the ending of Future
Jobs Fund funding. 8
Other cuts to youth activities announced early on under the Coalition government include cuts to the
Playbuilder scheme and the early end of the Activity Agreement and Entry to Learning pilots. These
pilots offered young people intensive support and incentives to take part in activities that would help
them move into employment and training. A Guardian report on the cuts gave the following assessment
of the Activity Agreement pilots:
―[G]overnment-funded pilot schemes, such as the activity agreement, that were successfully engaging
with the most vulnerable and hard to reach young people, so-called Neets – not in education,
employment or training – are being ended early. In eight areas of the UK, 16- and 17-year-olds facing
tough circumstances such as mental health issues, teenage pregnancy, homelessness and substance
misuse were given learning and training opportunities, plus one-on-one support from a key worker.
Managers at the West Yorkshire pilot, who had expected the programme to be rolled out nationally, say
60% of the 3,600 young people they have helped have moved into education and training.‖ 9
6 http://www.chilypep.org.uk/about_us.htm
7 http://www.wingscharity.com/
8 Crowdsourcing the Cuts, NCVO
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0Al3G3FWusZ9cdEV3cHFjS0YtZUgwS2FxVHBFY0hVcUE&hl=en&singl
e=true&gid=0&output=html
9 How the coalition's cuts are affecting public services, The Guardian (8 September 2010)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/08/how-are-cuts-affecting-public-services
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Another fund that has been reduced, in this case by 50%, is the Youth Capital Fund, which gave young
people a budget to fund positive activities in their area. 10 The Youth Opportunities Fund, which had a
similar brief, has lost its ring-fence, meaning that some councils, such as Lancashire, have cut funding
by nearly £0.5 million. 11 The final round of £8m for the Youth Sector Development Fund, which
supported smaller youth VCYS providers with a record of delivering positive activities and support to the
most disadvantaged young people, has been cut. 12
Cuts from the Office for Civil Society will also affect many young people. The reduction in the funding
available to strategic partners 13 will affect a number of organisations who support young people. 14 There
have been significant reduction to grants available to v, following the £5 million reduction in the v match
fund and the £1.95 million reduction in their £39 million grant 15 , as well as the ending of the Youth
Community Action programme, since v were going to deliver vschools — the initiative supporting
community action in secondary schools. 16 This has impacted heavily on other VCYS organisations, with
the CYPNow survey revealing that many were recipients of v funding.
5. Local authority cuts and the impact on the voluntary and community sector
The Department for Education has reduced area-based grants to local authorities by £311m 17 and other
department’s cuts to local authorities also impact heavily on the VCYS and young people. The impact of
cuts to local authorities on the VCYS is becoming clearer every day, and NCVYS’s Financial Monitoring
service continues to detail cuts of millions to councils from Sunderland to Somerset and Norfolk to
Cumbria. 18 These have hit numerous programmes, from those designed to reduce teenage pregnancy
rates 19 to those that provide school holiday activities for young people. 20
The threat of local authority cuts to youth services is highlighted by a report in the Guardian, which notes
that ―Schools, children's social care, family support and youth services typically account for around 45%
of a council's total budget. The schools bit is protected, and many nervous councils are looking to
effectively ringfence – and in some cases increase – spending on child protection. The effect of that,
however, will be to tighten the financial screw on the remaining "non-core" children's services.‖ 21
10 Michael Gove letter to DCSs concerning EYF, Department for Education (14 July 2010)
http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/m/michael%20gove%20to%20dcss%20concerning%20eyf.pdf
11 Children's services hit worst in £22m cuts drive, BBC News, 7 September 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
england-lancashire-11214534
12 Michael Gove letter to Ed Balls, Department for Education (7 June 2010)
http://www.education.gov.uk/news/news/~/media/Files/lacuna/letters/MichaelGovetoEdBallsSavings.ashx
13 OCS cuts number of strategic partners from 42 to 15, Civil Society, 6 Aug 2010
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/7101/ocs_cuts_strategic_partner_funding_by_two_fifths
14 Voluntary Organisations: Finance, Minister Phil Hope responds to a parliamentary question and lists the
recipients of strategic partner funding, (17 September 2010)
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070917/text/70917w0014.htm#0709179000170
15 Voluntary sector asked for their ideas on how to do more for less, Cabinet Office, 29 July 2010,
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/news_releases/2010/100729-voluntary.aspx
16 Youth Community Action programme to be axed CYPNow (29 July 2010)
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/1019518/Government-scraps-146m-youth-volunteering-programme/
17 Michael Gove letter to Ed Balls, Department for Education (7 June 2010)
http://www.education.gov.uk/news/news/~/media/Files/lacuna/letters/MichaelGovetoEdBallsSavings.ashx
18 NCVYS Financial Monitoring http://ncvys.org.uk/financial.html, now being updated at
http://ncvyspolicy.wordpress.com
19 Telford to lose £2m in children and young people grants, Shropshire Star (29 June 2010)
http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2010/06/29/telford-to-lose-2m-in-children-and-young-peoplegrants/#ixzz0sRKCl8Oc
20 News Insight: Norfolk children's services face hard decisions, CYPNow (28 September 2010)
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/bulletins/Daily-Bulletin/inDepth/1030942/?DCMP=EMC-DailyBulletin
21 How the coalition's cuts are affecting public services, The Guardian (8 September 2010)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/08/how-are-cuts-affecting-public-services
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One area in particular that has drawn a lot of attention is cuts to Connexions services, and the blog A
Thousand Cuts has amassed a host of information around these cuts. 22 The NCVYS/CYPNow survey
highlighted the impact this has on the VCYS, with a number of NCVYS members who are currently
involved in the delivery of Connexions services concerned about the future of their service agreements.
A London Voluntary Service Council Study revealed that charities and voluntary groups in London have
experienced funding cuts totalling about £50m in the past 12 months: 23 Greenwich Council has warned
that its voluntary sector grant budget could be slashed by 50 per cent or more from next year 24 and
Lambeth Council has confirmed it plans to cut nearly £90m from its budget over the next five years. As a
result, up to 35 per cent of the funding for voluntary organisations supporting young people will be cut
from January. 25
David Cameron, Prime Minister, and Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, have spoken up
on behalf of the voluntary sector regarding local authority cuts. Maude has asked ministerial colleagues
to "raise the alert button" on local authority cuts to the voluntary sector, 26 and Cameron told councils:
"When it comes to looking at and trimming your budgets, don't do the easy thing, which is to cut money
to the voluntary bodies and organisations working in our communities.‖ 27
6. Impact of other cuts
Cuts to other areas are also having an adverse effect on young people. Ministry of Justice cuts of £2
billion over the next three years could threaten the future of the family courts and the Youth Justice
Board. 28 Cuts to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Working Neighbourhoods
Fund will affect areas where the grant has been used to tackle young people out of work. 29
A researcher at the Fabian Society has claimed the cuts of 40% to the road safety budget will impact on
the poorest children, who are disproportionately more prone to being the victims of road traffic
accidents. 30 The Guardian has highlighted the impact of cuts to schemes that were designed to engage
children and young people in the arts. 31 NCVYS members Catch22 have argued that changes to
housing benefit will be detrimental to those young people most likely to struggle. 32
22 Database of cuts to Connexions, A Thousand Cuts
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AiRF2rf3Mzp7dGQwbkt2ZjBkYWdud0NVZmNLN0hUUWc&hl=en&sin
gle=true&gid=0&output=html)
23 Cuts Should Not Hit the Poorest Londoners, London Voluntary Service Council (9 September 2010)
http://www.lvsc.org.uk/files/103340/FileName/090910CutsshouldnothitthepoorestLondoners.pdf
24 Greenwich Council proposes cutting voluntary sector budget by 50 per cent or more, Civil Society (13 Jul 2010)
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/6965/council_cuts
25 Lambeth Council to cut voluntary sector funding for young people's services by up to a third, Third Sector (22
July 2010) http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/rss/article/1018089/Lambeth-Council-cut-sector-funding-youngpeoples-services-third/
26 Maude places voluntary sector cuts on red alert, Civil Society (19 July 2010)
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/6996/maude_places_voluntary_sector_cuts_on_red_alert
27 Prime Minister's questions (15 September 2010)
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100915/debtext/100915-
0001.htm#10091526002013
28 Fears for family courts in £2bn Ministry of Justice cuts, Community Care (11 August 2010)
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2010/08/11/115078/fears-for-family-courts-in-2bn-ministry-of-justicecuts.htm
29 Councils slice jobs fund cash, Regeneration & Renewal (31 August 2010)
30 Coalition cuts endanger the poorest children on UK roads, Left Foot Forward (1 September 2010)
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/09/coalition-cuts-endanger-the-poorest-children-on-uk-roads/
31 Young at art: what the arts cuts mean for young people, Trisha Anders, Comment is Free, The Guardian (2
September 2010) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/02/arts-funding-cuts-young-people
32 Budget changes to housing benefit will damage young people, Catch22 (24 June 2010) http://www.catch-
22.org.uk/News/Detail/Budget-changes-to-housing-benefit-will-damage-young-people
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Recent announcements of redundancies in support organisations are also likely to impact on young
people and the voluntary sector. The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action
(NAVCA), which strengthens voluntary and community action (and specifically young people in some
areas), has announced that its budget for next year will be reduced from £3 million to £1.5 million. 33 The
National Youth Agency (NYA) is also consulting with staff over redundancies, which are reported to
affect around half its staff. 34
7. Recommendations
NCVYS’s monitoring of the impact of cuts on young people, supported by the results of the survey with
CYPNow, has revealed that there have been comprehensive cuts to young people’s services. Local
authorities are cutting voluntary and community youth services in order to respond to pressures for
greater local efficiency. The impact of these cuts will be extremely damaging for young people and their
communities, and NCVYS encourages local authorities to look at existing partnerships and review where
the voluntary and community youth sector can bring a real solution for service delivery.
Investment in good local representation of the voluntary and community youth sector is vital in providing
effective two-way engagement between statutory and non statutory services and should provide a voice
for the local sector. It is also important in galvanising community action to look at alternative approaches
to delivering services where cuts must be made. Local representation is also important in increasing
accountability; local democratic arrangements can ensure that the impact of cuts on civil society is being
considered.
A cross sector approach is vital if we are to protect young people from the negative and far-reaching
impact of the recession on much needed services. NCVYS has been calling for young people to remain
a top priority for funds from the Big Society Bank as an important source of mitigating against the cuts
that are happening now. We have also called for a sensible approach to commissioning, and have
argued for longer term contracts and small grants to sustain vital core services that young people and
local communities rely on. Small grants are a sensible, non-bureaucratic and efficient way of sustaining
services for the smallest organisations who often work with some of the most socially excluded groups.
It is this kind of support that will become increasingly important in this challenging financial climate.
NCVYS Chief Executive Susanne Rauprich has stated: ―You can't empower communities without
empowering young people, and nor can you achieve excellence in education without investing in youth
work. Cutting youth services now is risking the loss of vital support to the most vulnerable at a time when
it matters greatly. Big visions like the Big Society need small investments.‖
8. Further details
For more information on any element of this paper, please contact NCVYS’s Policy Officer, Dom
Weinberg, at dominic@ncvys.org.uk or on 020 7278 1041.
33
Changes at NAVCA, NACVA, (28 September 2010) http://www.navca.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/58A5C28E-FF85-
4683-B725-B667B17AF3C3/0/changesatnavca.htm
34
National Youth Agency Faces Challenging Financial Environment Head On, NYA (23 September 2010)
http://www.nya.org.uk/news/national-youth-agency-faces-challenging-financial-environment-head-on
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