Our policy update for September 2018
30 September 2018
Welcome to this month’s update on the policy context for London Youth members. See here for our last update.
Politics & Policy
The last month has been dominated by party conferences, particularly Labour’s in Liverpool on 23rd – 26th September and the Conservatives’ in Birmingham between 30th September – 3rd October. The focus was largely on Brexit and very little new policy was announced.
In her conference speech, the Prime Minister signalled an end to austerity, although there is little in the way of policy commitment. Theresa May also announced a relaxation of the ban on local authorities borrowing to invest in housing. The 30-year-old ban has been blamed on decreasing the supply housing of affordable housing.
The Home Secretary also announced a new Youth Endowment Fund that will provide £200 million over 10 years for early intervention with young people aged 10 – 14. It is a welcome commitment of resources to support the early intervention principles in the Serious Violence Strategy and framed in the language of a public health approach.
Labour announced several policies that build on the 2017 general election manifesto, including further plans for nationalising utilities, more police officers, expanded free childcare, and giving workers shares in large companies.
This month, the Mayor announced £0.5 million to establish a public health approach to tackling violence in London. This is a very positive step and our Chief Executive, Rosemary Watt-Wyness, discussed her support on BBC Radio London. We still have many questions about what this London Violence Reduction Unit will look like and will continue to work with the Mayor and GLA to ensure that the youth sector is part of the solution. If you want to know more about the public health approach, see this summary of the Youth Violence Commission’s report.
Shaun Bailey AM has been announced as the Conservative candidate for the 2020 mayoral elections.
Consultations
London Youth is currently completing its response to the Mayor of London’s Sports for All of Us: London Sport Strategy, which closes on 12th October. The strategy has a heavy focus on community participation through the Sport Unites programme and looks to use sport as a tool for social integration. Thank to the GLA and our members, Coram’s Fields, LBA, Mary’s Youth Club, and Pro Touch SA, for being involved in our member consultation session.
Over the coming months, London Youth will also be responding to the Labour Party’s consultation on Building a Statutory Youth Service, which closes 12th November. We will be running a consultation session on this strategy so please get in touch if you are interested in being involved.
Updates
Regarding youth violence:
- Look out for Vicky Foxcroft MP’s debate on the role of youth services in tackling youth violence on 10th October, which we have provided a briefing to Department for Digital, Communications, Media & Sport (DCMS) on.
- The first 36 recipients of the Young Londoners Fund have been announced, including several London Youth members.
- The Big Lottery Fund have published their findings on the role of the voluntary and community sector in preventing serious youth violence.
- The Howard League for Penal Reform report that the media focus on knife crime is causing ‘excessive arrests of black children’.
- The Ministry of Justice have released a cross-sector Victims Strategy and is consulting on the future of probation services.
- The Home Office is consulting on extending the police’s ‘stop and search’ powers.
IPPR have released a major report, Prosperity and Justice: A plan for the new economy, on the structural causes for economic inequality and injustice in the economy.
Centre for London have released a More, Better, Together: A strategic review of giving in London, which lays out ways to increase the size and impact London’s charitable giving. The income of the charity sector in England and Wales has increased by £2 billion to £76.7 billion in the year to June 2018.
The Local Government Association is warning about the further impact of an additional £1.3 billion in cuts to funding for local authorities this year, which it says will “tip many councils over the edge”.
The DCMS announced £5 million for disadvantaged children in uniformed youth organisations
The Department of Health & Social Care have announced a new programme to target childhood obesity in partnership with local authorities.
Unions representing over 10,000 youth workers in England and Wales have announced a new 10 year pay deal.
Get in touch
Please feel free to get in touch with any questions or to get involved in our upcoming consultation responses.
