Kent County Council is set to shake up its youth services in a cost-cutting move worth £1million.

KCC’s proposals, which were put before its cabinet on Monday (July 18) could mean the closure of 12 youth centres and the loss of up to 64 jobs county-wide.

If the move goes through, Kent County Council will pull direct funding for some 13 to 19 services, and instead invite community, voluntary and charity groups to take over.

Among those at risk are Miracles Youth Centre in Windsor Road, Gravesend, The Gr@nd Healthy Living Centre in Windmill Street, Gravesend and the Bridge Youth Arts Centre in Birdwood Avenue, Dartford.

The KCC report said: “Rather than Kent County Council continuing to run all youth services in-house it is proposed that each district or borough area will have a core KCC offer comprising a ‘Hub’, one street-based project and one or more school-based youth worker.

“This new delivery model will deliver savings in excess of £1m for Kent County Council over a two year period whilst continuing to demonstrate a robust commitment to the delivery of youth work opportunities for the young people of Kent.

“Kent Youth Service is committed to supporting the personal and social development of young people through the provision of high quality youth work activities which allows a process of informal education to take place.”

The move would see KCC pull £1.7million in funding to its services, before reinvesting £830,000 in commissioning services.

If councillors agree, a 90 day consultation for staff and groups affected would take place between August 1 and October 29.