COUNCIL cuts will “devastate” Southend’s youth services, trade unions and opposition councillors have warned.

Services for young people and schools will each take a big hit, with as many as 50 jobs going under Southend Council plans to cut £3.4million from its children and learning department budget, as part of an overall £15.5million spending cut.

Cuts to the Connexions Youth Service, including the loss of 25 jobs, have been condemned by Labour councillors and unions.

Of the 25 posts to be axed, 16 are frontline youth workers, five are support staff and three are managers.

Connexions works with young people on education, employment and training issues. It also runs the town’s youth centres.

Labour leader Ian Gilbert said: “Our Connexions team does wonderful work with young people in the town on an already very tight budget.

“While there might be some administrative savings, I can’t see how so many posts can be axed without a change to the level of service.

“Youth services are completely the wrong thing to be cutting at the moment, given what we hear about youth unemployment moving in the wrong direction.”

The council plans to merge Connexions with its Youth Offending Service to form a new Integrated Youth Support Service.

It hopes to cut £747,000 from Connexions’ £2.8million budget by reducing management and infrastructure costs and relying more on volunteers.

A Unison union spokesman said: “Youth services are being devastated, with the loss of these posts.”

However, Roger Hadley, Tory councillor responsible for children and learning, pointed out Essex County Council had scrapped its own youth service completely to save money.

He said: “Southend decided to keep its service. It will be a more limited service, but we can target more vulnerable youngsters by keeping it going.”

The council’s early years team, which runs children’s centres, is also being hit hard, as are the family support and school attendance teams.

Early years will lose £829,000 of its £4.6million budget , with the borough’s children’s centres getting £317,000 less.

About £180,000 less will be spend this year on training for childcare workers, while at least four jobs will go, including two children’s centre teachers.

Family support will lose £634,000, mostly from the loss of 13 staff and by merging of the family support team, with three other teams.

The team which works with children with learning difficulties and disabilities, will lose one post as part of a £221,000 budget cut. The borough will also spend £70,000 less on home to school transport, having already stripped out £50,000 last year.