Connexion service Cuts

Job service for young will be targeted by Tories

Another day and another article highlighting the targeting of the middle class by the Conservative government.

It now seems that families with young children are being systematically targeted by Conservative tax increases and cuts to services.

The Conservative decision to cut £4.8 million from the budget of Kent's career guidance service Connexions is highly regressive because it targets a service designed to help young people into the world of work and further education.

60 jobs are at risk due to a 19.5 per cent funding reduction.

Medway Conservatives back a government that has led on

- Rise in University tuition fees to £9,000 per annum which will target grammar and comprehensive school pupil alike. Leaving graduate debt of £27,000 before living-cost.

- Cuts to University funding which will compromise excellence in teaching so watering down standards

- Cuts to the Education Maintenance Allowance which help pupils from middle class families to attend further education colleges. Reduction in number of apprenticeships

- One-in-three Primary school pupils failing basic literacy tests with failures to improve education in the area despite a decade of power

- Delays in Academy building projects

- Cuts to Sure Start and pre-school education programmes

- Cuts to free school meals and secondary-language programmes

- Cuts to Medway Youth Services and support projects for young people

- Failure to support the Medway Freedom Pass in favour of the £2.5m Chatham two-way programme

- Gerrymandering of funding into Yellow bus scheme which services safe Conservative areas at the expense of middle class urban families

Only the most blind of Conservative Councillors can justify supporting a government which is systematically destroying educational opportunity for a generation of young people.

Residents in Luton & Wayfield will suffer disproportionately from cuts in education. Not only are local Primary Schools in need of extra support but the cuts in budgets for second language and integration will impact Luton schools who have a diverse catchment. Secondly, 16-18 year olds in the ward are more likely to be recipients of the Educational Maintenance Allowance.

Supporters of the Connexion service, which have an office in Chatham, say the cuts will harm its ability to help the county's youngsters, who they say have been badly let down by the Coalition Government.

The Kent branch of Connexions has regional offices in 11 towns throughout the county and employs more than 300 personal advisers. The services are merged in Kent and Medway so service cuts will hit young people in Medway.

A consultation process has now begun with a view to a 17 per cent reduction in staff numbers, which will be achieved through a phased approach over the next eight months.

The £4.8m reduction – which brings the organisation's budget for the next two years down to about £20m – is significantly more than the £2m cut predicted before the Comprehensive Spending Review was published in October.

"This is another attack by an out-of-touch government that doesn't understand the needs of young people," said 17-year-old Kent Youth County Council chairman Dara Farrell.

"Connexions has had great success in finding employment for young people and in providing them with relevant skills to keep that employment.

"The Government talks about not wanting so many people on benefits but how are they supposed to find work when services like Connexions are being taken away?"