Different council departments used several funding streams to support projects for young people. There was no overall monitoring and administration. But there was competition for money and duplication of effort.
The London Youth Offer funded by the Mayor of London and Department for Children, Schools and Families (from 2008/09) is available to all London boroughs. This doubled the youth support service budget for Waltham Forest. It also encouraged the Council to consolidate youth-related budgets.
The new arrangements helped the Council to cope with funding shortfalls in other areas. The youth support service and the Better Neighbourhoods Initiative team agreed to deal with declines in Better Neighbourhoods Initiative funds by taking a needs-based approach:
'The youth needs are met through our [youth support service] budget. They [Better Neighbourhoods Initiative] have a shrinking pot and we’ve got an expanding one so they’ve got other groups whose needs could be met.'
- Youth support service manager
The council expects the centralised approach to funding will improve understanding of youth provision in the area, value for money, and support future service planning.