SERVICES for young people in Salford - where police say gangs of "feral youths" are running amok - have been condemned in a government report.

Inspectors said the council-run services were inadequate and not providing taxpayers with good value for money.

The youth services department provides young Salford people with information and advice on training and careers as well as running youth clubs and leisure activities.

It has an annual budget of £1.6m from the council and spends a further £1.7m from other sources.

A damning report by inspectors from the education watchdog Ofsted said the youth services in Salford were "failing". Now council bosses are planning a management shake-up and searching for a new principal youth officer after the previous one quit.

The city's top policeman, Chief Supt David Baines, said earlier this year that "feral youths" were causing trouble on its streets in the wake of a series of horrific assaults.

Inadequate

Inspectors said arrangements by Salford's youth services to safeguard children were inadequate and young people's progress and achievements were generally unsatisfactory. The quality of youth work was inadequate.

A high proportion of staff were unqualified and had received insufficient training, they said. Most current accommodation was unfit for youth work and management had failed to address key issues.

In each of four key areas - quality of curriculum and resources, standards of young people's achievement, quality of work practice and leadership and management - the city scored the lowest grading of four (inadequate). The highest grading is one (very good).

The service was praised for youth workers developing positive relationships with young people and acquiring outside funding to broaden the scope of provision.

The report made eight recommendations to improve the service. It said that often it provided purely recreational facilities offering insufficient challenge or opportunities for learning.

But there were some examples of specialist projects where achievement was good, such as the Gears scheme, where youngsters are taught mechanical skills by working with vehicles.

Coun John Warmisham, spokesman for children's services, said: "It is an awful report. But we are going to come up with a robust improvement plan. We are looking at conducting a root and branch review of the whole service."

What do you think of the youth services in Salford? Have your say.