Calls to protect Birmingham's youth services amid 'violent' exploitation fears

There have been fresh calls for Birmingham’s youth services to be protected from cuts amid fears over the criminal exploitation of children and teenagers. A recently-published inquiry report suggested there are “very real concerns” in the city about Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE), which involves young people being manipulated and coerced into committing crimes.

One of its alarming forms is County Lines, which often sees gangs exploiting young people into moving drugs from a hub, normally a large city, into other markets such as suburban areas. Worryingly, the report found witnesses from Birmingham’s Youth Service and other organisations felt that such exploitation had worsened in recent years, with one claiming it had become “more organised, violent and deadly”.

The chairs of the inquiry, councillors Des Hughes and Kerry Jenkins, also issued a bleak warning over Birmingham’s financial challenges. In particular, they warned such difficulties could have a “significant impact” on the non-statutory services currently delivered for children and young people.

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“This is extremely worrying given the difficulties there are already to identify children being exploited,” they added. Amid such sombre messages, calls for Birmingham’s youth services to be sheltered from the council’s huge wave of cuts have refused to die down.

“I think we’re going to make a huge error of judgement if we cut youth services in this city - we should re-look at that.” Labour councillor Jane Jones told a meeting of the city council on Tuesday. Green Party councillor Julien Pritchard added: “The report is evidence of how important those services are and the consequences of cutting them.”

Addressing Cllr Pritchard’s concerns, councillor Kerry Jenkins said: “I don’t have to assure you of my total belief in preventative services. You are very well-versed in the work I have done to protect youth services.”

“It’s not in question the value of preventative services and early intervention,” she continued. “We know it’s really good value for money but we can see the difficulty to deliver such services with continuing cuts to council budgets.

“The review of services for young people has only just begun,” she went on to say. “We don’t know where that’s going to end - we will be keeping a very close eye on that.”

The relevant cabinet members at the crisis-hit council recently said they were committed to using the inquiry’s findings to make a “real difference". “We will collaborate with stakeholders to implement the report's recommendations and provide regular updates to protect our children and young people from exploitation,” councillors Karen McCarthy and Nicky Brennan said in a joint statement.

Meanwhile a council spokesperson said the report put a spotlight on the scale of the authority’s challenge to address the rise in criminals targeting young people in the city. “It reveals that three-quarters (76 per cent) of the young people targeted in this way were aged 15-17,” they continued.

“A planned review of the council’s services for young people is underway. It is anticipated that this review will provide an opportunity for redesign that includes a Serious Youth Violence response by increasing efficiencies through alignment and integration of existing youth focussed services.”

‘We need a national strategy’

The report made a number of recommendations to cabinet members at Birmingham City Council but also argued there was an “urgent need” for action by the national government. In particular, it suggested it needed to invest in and expand the provision of support and preventative services for young people.

“Two of our recommendations therefore ask the Leader and Cabinet Members to lobby the government for this investment,” the report said. "For a statutory youth service enshrined in law with sufficient ringfenced funding and a Minister for Youth, bringing together the scattergun approach to youth policy currently seen in Westminster.”

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, councillor Karen McCarthy warned that the “tentacles of criminal gangs” stretch wider than Birmingham and the West Midlands. Conservative leader at the council, Robert Alden, meanwhile said: “I don’t think locally or nationally anyone can hold their heads up while there are children being exploited in our city.

“No-one should be resting on their laurels because we have to make sure as a council we’re doing all we can - and indeed, I’d urge nationally politicians to do that as well". A spokesperson for the Home Office told the Local Democracy Reporting Service last week that it was “firmly committed” to working with police and delivery partners to tackle such exploitation.

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They said: “The targeting, grooming and exploitation of children is deplorable. We are providing £6.5 million this year for the Tackling Organised Exploitation programme, which brings together local, regional and national data to ensure police can effectively uncover and prosecute exploitation.”

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