CHILDREN and youth services have been devastated by the Tories “systematically and deliberately” underfunding councils, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said today.

She told the union’s local government conference that nearly two fifths of English council-run children centres and youth centres have closed due to funding cuts since 2010.

“The loss of so many facilities, so much expert staff has put teenagers at serious risk,” she said, warning the situation will get worse as town halls continue to struggle with bankruptcy.

She hit out at the Tories’ targeting of low-income Labour areas for the biggest cuts, saying: “We do need to see real investment in public services and, in particular, local government.

“They blame migrants, the strikers, benefit claimants – people who don’t really have much power in this country but apparently they are to blame for the chaos of the last 14 years.”

Ms McAnea made “no apology” for backing Labour in the general election but said the party could have gone further with wealth taxes.