Birmingham City Council Anti-Knife Crime Programme faces axe amid financial crisis to save £1m

Birmingham City Council is planning to axe its anti-knife crime programme despite another teenager being stabbed to death last weekend, this time just metres from the Council House.

BirminghamWorld understands that the plans are part of a range of proposed cuts to the local authority's youth services budget which funds outreach youth work and youth centres which steer youngsters away from crime, feed malnourished children and protect vulnerable teenagers from county lines and sexual exploitation.

Youth workers and community leaders are concerned the Resilience to Resolve Anti-Knife Crime Programme will not be renewed in March to save £1 million annually despite its life saving importance.

Tragic cases of children killing children in Birmingham have spiked with countless more seriously injured in the last year, however, without the youth workers targeting those most at risk the number would have been higher, according to campaigners.

Bishop Desmomd Jaddoo MBE has worked with families of children who have been stabbed to death in the city and believes the murder of Muhammad Hassan Ali, 17, in Victoria Square on Saturday should be a chilling reminder to council decision makers how youth violence destroys lives.

Bishop Jadoo reminded council chiefs the city is already paying the price of the last time they decimated youth services in the city. He told BirminghamWorld: "So many years ago, we predicted that if knife, crime and youth violence was not tackled, we would see it become an epidemic and the important need of all approaches being joined up.

"The latest death in Victoria Square, Birmingham, of a young 17-year-old only goes to demonstrate the state of our city and why the council needs to help young people. When the section 114 notice was served and cuts were obviously on the way, it is clear these will affect some of the most vulnerable people in our city, which are the elderly, the homeless, people with disabilities, people from ethnic backgrounds, and importantly, young people. 

"Sadly the people always pay the price for the mistakes of those in authority and, not only have they made mistakes with the budget in Birmingham, they have also made major errors in how to manage investing in our young people. Clearly, voluntary agencies are going to have to do a lot more work, however, sadly it is the people again -  young people and families - that will pay the ultimate penalty."

BirminghamWorld understands that those in the council’s youth department have been told the combined youth, careers and 14-19 support services budget will be cut by £2.2m this year and £3 million next year. The three services will be merged into a single department which will do the fraction of current work. 

In March, it is feared that the £1m fund for a knife crime outreach programme will not be renewed - affecting those workers who deal with the children most in danger of committing knife crime. Also in the sights of cost cutters are youth centres which provide the most vulnerable children with food throughout the year, 13,000 meals were served to children in centres over last year's summer holidays alone, and safe sanctuary from chaotic homes and hanging around on the streets.

BirminghamWorld has been told that staff morale at the council is on the floor due to the cuts and there is anger how council chiefs have wasted tens of millions on grandoise events like the Commonwealth Games, lost millions on contracts including overpaying a taxi firm millions and a huge botched IT contract as well as historic equal pay claims costing hundreds of millions. Whereas just £5 million could be used to change thousands of young lives in the city. 

The newly launched Save Birmingham Youth Service Campaign penned a letter to decision makers in the city who are preparing to pull the rug from underneath the generation which has made Birmingham the youngest city in Europe. 

The letter said: "Birmingham Youth Service received £1 million to deliver the Resilience to Resolve Programme which focuses on reducing Youth Violence. This money is now at threat of being cut which will further greatly impact this highly needed area of work in Birmingham putting more young people’s lives at risk. These and other related issues facing our young people cost the taxpayer (the public purse) far more than the cost of running preventative youth services.

"Study after study has shown that cutting youth services is an entirely false economy. There is a strong argument that, in a decent society, young people deserve to have somewhere safe to go, a range of affordable activities and professional support outside of school. But even if that moral argument was ignored and we just considered the economic argument."

The cuts will be presented to the cabinet and councillors next month.

Birmingham City Council reacts to concerns about Anti-Knife Crime budget cuts

A spokesperson for the council said: "Birmingham City Council is facing a series of financial challenges, meaning that a range of savings proposals are being considered by the council. All savings proposals for the Children, Young People and Families directorate are still under review.

"We continue to work with our partners in West Midlands Police and schools across the city to engage with young people and we will do all that we can to minimise the impact on the frontline services that protect young people and their families right across our city."