Stay Of Execution For Hogarth Youth Centre

Council delays decision due to high rate of response to consultation

The high response to Hounslow Council's plans to cut back on youth services, including closing the Hogarth Youth Centre in Chiswick, has led the Council to postpone discussing the matter.

There has been an angry reaction in Chiswick to the proposals, and over 100 people marched last month as part of a campaign to save the services. An online petition was also lodged.

Hounslow Council said The Cabinet report on Youth Services which is considering the outcome of the consultations, will now not be going to the April Cabinet. Councillor Richard Foote, Cabinet Member for Communities, Hounslow Council, said:

“Due to the very high volume of responses and the need to assess and take into account the feedback received on the youth services consultation, the decision has been taken to delay the report and recommendations scheduled for the April Cabinet meeting, to a later date. We thank everyone for their feedback and co-operation.”

Local people are objecting to council plans to reduce the youth budget by £650,000 which mean that they will no longer employ staff on site at its five youth centres across the borough.

Instead, a team of "detached youth workers" will support young people on estates by doing street work. They will use community buildings based on levels of need. The centre in Duke Road is managed by the charitable Hogarth Trust and partly funded by Hounslow Council.

The public consultation which proposed to cut the youth services by £438,000 ended on the 6 March. The campaigners are not happy with the way the consultation was delivered and say they do not feel that their voices have been heard. They also held a protest outside the civic centre on the 21 February.

The campaigners say that this is a wide-scale issue across London and that support and facilities for young people have been disappearing. Sian Berry Green Party Member of the London Assembly's report on ‘London’s lost youth services’ highlights the dramatic cuts to young people across London and the impact it will have.

The Council says its shortfall in central funding means it has to direct money towards other areas such as youth counselling and respite for young carers in the borough. The £212,000 in its budget will also support mobile outreach for 'hot spot' areas of need, the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, and the Good Shepherd project for young people in Hounslow Barracks who are isolated due to frequent re-location.

The Council says that young people will still be able to access a range of services provided by organisations such as schools, churches, leisure centres, libraries, apprenticeship providers, as well as local authority services such as the 14-19 service and its counselling service.

The Centre provides a range of youth programmes for young people aged 8-21. This includes Junior Club for 8 – 11 year olds, Intermediates Club for young people in Years 7, 8 and 9 and Senior Youth Club for 11-21 year olds. A range of activities include cooking, table tennis, football, dance, arts and crafts, board games, volleyball and more. It also provides holiday programmes, trips and other opportunities for young people.

April 6, 2017