A BIG thumbs down has been given to the local authority’s decision to cut funding to its frontline youth services.

The results of a consultation into the proposals released last week have shown a majority of people in South Gloucestershire were against the council’s plans.

The local authority needs to make savings of around £1.65 million on its youth budgets. In order to do so it is planning to stop funding nine of its 15 Sure Start Centres, including those in Thornbury, Severn Beach, Winterbourne and one of two in Yate, and invite bids from organisations to run them instead.

The six remaining facilities located in the district’s priority neighbourhoods should be safeguarded, although they could also end up being run by independent providers. And as part of the proposals, all youth centres could be privatised.

But if no business or group comes forward to take charge of these centres, they will have to close.

According to the report, which were being presented to members of the children and young people committee yesterday (Wednesday, July 25), 59 per cent of those taking part in the consultation disagreed with the overall plans, just over 22 per cent were in favour of the changes and 19 per cent remained undecided.

Commissioning private providers was respondents’ major concern with the proposals. Around 66 per cent strongly opposed the move, while 21 per cent welcomed privatisation. The rest were undecided.

Residents objecting to the plans said they feared privatising centres would lead to a reduction in the quality of provision and lack of coordination. They were also concerned with the scale of funding cuts in general and the impact they would have on service delivery.

Keeping centres under council control only in priority neighbourhoods was criticised by parents. Many pointed out that children at risk or needing access to youth centres did not all come from more deprived areas.

Although some centres could still be saved and remain under the council's jurisdiction, district councillors will have to decide how far they are prepared to go to make necessary savings.

South Gloucestershire Council claims, however, that the changes would allow thousands more children to get access to council funds.

If the plans go ahead, the current funding system will be replaced by a "fairer" per-head system, the authoirty said. District Cllr Matthew Riddle (Con, Severn) said: "We have to recognise that 80 per cent of young people are shunning the council youth centres. What we need is an end to the one-size-fits-all system for the few that we have now and instead move to a more flexible system for the many that can better respond to the rising expectations of local families.”