Up to four of Kingston's youth clubs could be axed and elements of youth work privatised as part of a root and branch review of the council's youth service.

The one-year review is expected to be agreed by the council executive on Tuesday and follows a damning 2001 Ofsted report for the service. The report criticised shabby, under-attended youth clubs and not enough street-based work.

The review will take a fundamental look at how the service is run and whether it needs to shift its focus from the casual open-door centres where teenagers play pool and table tennis to more structured project work.

This could involve work with a particular focus on self improvement such as a youth magazine or motor mechanics project.

More outreach work with groups of youngsters on the street will also be considered, leaving some of the borough's eight youth clubs redundant.

A council report outlining the review suggests the number of youth clubs could be reduced to one in each neighbourhood. The remaining buildings could be used for other council services or sold off.

The review, by councillors and council officers, will also consider whether parts of the youth service, which has about 35 staff, could be delivered better by charities or other organisations.

The youth service works with 11 to 25 year olds but has a particular focus on tackling disenchantment and anti-social behaviour among 13 to 19 year olds.

Executive member for education and lifelong learning Councillor Martin Blakebrough is the driving force behind the review. He accepts the service has improved since the Ofsted report but believes it still needs a radical overhaul.

He said the review would inevitably mean taking some painful decisions but the ultimate question was whether a better service could be provided for young people. He said the service had to deliver or it would be contracted out, adding: "In the last 10 to 12 years we have not thought strategically about how we are going to provide services for young people. That's the reason we are not doing consistently well."

Youth service head Gillian Hall called the review a positive move. She said: "The whole emphasis of outreach work and project work will target resources to where the needs are."

She said some element of the drop-in youth club system would remain.

The review is accompanied by a series of changes to be implemented over the next year including improved drug education work and enabling youngsters to participate in neighbourhood meetings.

May 29, 2003 10:31