Siân Berry has been working hard to expose the huge cuts to youth services in London, raising the alarm about more than 100 lost youth centres and over 500 youth worker jobs since 2016. In last year’s City Hall budget, Green Assembly Members won a major victory by securing a new ‘Young Londoners Fund’ from the Mayor, with £45 million over three years to improve the lives of the capital’s young people. Applications have started for the second year of the fund, creating opportunities and hope at a time when youth violence is hitting the headlines.
However, in the face of ongoing cuts to council budgets, London’s Green Assembly Members are calling on the Mayor to commit to longer-term funding. Siân said: “We have won the Mayor’s support for a three-year fund, but Government cuts to council budgets have not stopped, and more must be done to make support for young people a normal part of City Hall’s work into the future. Our budget proposals – to increase the fund and make sure it continues for longer – were not taken up this spring, but we’ll keep pushing and this will be a key policy in my programme to be Mayor next year. Now is the time to invest in the future of young Londoners.”