Labour would set up a ‘young futures’ programme to help tackle crises in youth crime and mental health, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has announced.
The 10-year programme would set up 90 hubs, bringing together mental health specialists and youth workers, Ms Cooper told the Labour Party conference in Liverpool today.
The hubs would coordinate responses to a rise in knife crime, youth violence and county lines exploitation as well as mental health challenges.
Ms Cooper told the conference: ‘Too often, when teenagers say they don’t feel safe, no one listens. Too often, when they start to struggle with mental health, or when they start to go off the rails or get groomed by criminal gangs, nothing is done.’
She said: ‘Labour will bring in news laws to crack down on dangerous knife sales including online and to stop gangs exploiting our children.
‘But we also need to step in early.’
Referencing Labour’s introduction of Sure Start centres 25 years ago, she said: ‘The next Labour government will do the same for our teenagers – to give them the best start in life and keep them safe.’
The Guardian has reported that the hubs would cost £91.7m a year, paid for from an estimated £1.7bn raised by charging private schools VAT.
To read more about the Labour conference visit The MJ (£).
