Youth Lates: £30m investment to reverse 'catastrophic' youth club closures

City Hall’s £30m investment in late-night youth clubs across London is “critical” to stopping at-risk youngsters from falling into a life of gangs and crime, a veteran community leader has claimed.

The mayor of London announced a £30m investment this week that would fund a “Youth Lates” programme across all 32 boroughs in the capital.

These clubs, set to open later this year, would offer activities, support, mentorship and food, with the intention of giving young Londoners “somewhere safe to go” and ensuring “no one is left behind”, according to Sadiq Khan.

City Hall say that between 2010 and 2024, 81 youth centres closed in London as local authorities across the capital were forced to slash the services as part of wider cost-cutting measures.

However, the latest round of investment has been hailed as a game-changer, with one mentor saying it will go some way to reversing the impact of the recent cuts.

Wayne James, the Managing Director of ML Community Enterprise who operate the Martin Lipton Youth Club (MLYC) in Brixton, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We provide somewhere for young people to come, socialise, develop, make mistakes without penalty – taking them on a journey from their early teens to adulthood. We fill a gap in their lives when they don’t have a trusted adult.

“The closure of youth clubs has been absolutely catastrophic. We are paying for the political decisions of those who shut places like these.

“Not every child comes from a home with two parents who can provide them with the right guidance and an example. Youth clubs have filled that gap and provided somewhere for young Londoners to channel that energy – to have an outlet.

“When we shut that off, we gave young people nowhere to do that – add the torment of social media to that. This mayor has taken action in an area which is absolutely critical. He’s focused on the late-night provision, which is usually not part of our programme.

“Kids who aren’t home will be out anyway – if they don’t have spaces like these, they will be vulnerable to predators.”

Prevention of violence and early intervention

Sadiq Khan, who launched the policy at the MLYC this week, said the investment will work alongside City Hall’s renewed focus on frontline policing. Officials say that prevention and early intervention – in the form of City Hall’s Violence Reduction Unit – has seen more than 100,000 young Londoners access mentoring support.

Minister of State for Policing and Crime, Sarah Jones, added: “Under Sadiq Khan London has made huge progress tackling youth violence, with youth homicides now at a record low. But both the government and the mayor understand that undoing years of Tory mismanagement and failure to invest in our young people will take time.

“This new record investment from the mayor in youth clubs could be a real game-changer, providing a high-quality space in every London community where young Londoners can feel safe and feel supported. We know this crucial time after school or at weekends is a vital time in ensuring young people have positive things to do and don’t get drawn into crime and antisocial behaviour. Working together the Government and London Mayor are turning the tide on years of underinvestment in our young people.”

Hina Bokhari, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the London Assembly, told the LDRS that it was too little, too late, adding: “We know how much young Londoners are struggling. Youth unemployment is rising fast.

“We’ve got the highest child poverty rate in the country. We desperately need more investment in youth services. But £1m a borough does not cut it.”

The £30m investment comes from the £50m earmarked in this year’s Mayoral Budget to “support young Londoners” and keep them away from gangs and crime.

Bokhari accused Khan of a lack of transparency on the funding – and accused him of holding the announcement until just three weeks before Londoners cast their ballots in the local elections.

“It’s incredibly disappointing the London Assembly was never given a proper chance to scrutinise this policy,” she added.

“I asked the mayor in February how this money would be spent and got fobbed off, only for it to be announced in the run-up to elections. That is not democracy, it’s not good policy making – it looks like vote-chasing to me.”

Meanwhile, Tory Assembly Member Alessandro Georgiou criticised the Mayor for failing to top up frontline policing.

“£30m is going into youth clubs rather than frontline policing as a means of tackling crimes,” he said. “Policing is what stops crime, and with offences in London increasing, the public deserve to feel safe on our streets.

“Was there no better use for this money, at a time when the Mayor is overseeing the potential loss of more than 1,300 frontline police officers?”

Police officer numbers fell slightly in February 2026 from the month before to 31,325, more than 2,000 lower than when Sadiq Khan was re-elected in May 2024.

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