NORTH Somerset Council has had its decision to slash youth funding across the district vindicated by a High Court judge.
The application for a judicial review into the decision by the authority to slash youth service budgets from £1.1 million to just £282,736 by 2014/15 has been dismissed by the High Court.
The judge's decision acknowledged the tough choices being faced by the council, tasked with saving £47 million over four years.
The authority has been forced to spend £65,000 in legal fees and hundreds of hours of officer time to defend the review application.
North Somerset Council spokesman Nick Yates said: "We are delighted that the judge has dismissed the High Court judicial review regarding youth services. The council is faced with having to save over £47 million from our budget by 2015.
"From the outset we have said that we would look at how services could be delivered in a different way rather than simply cutting them."
The legal challenge was made by youth service user Aaron Hunt, 21, of Weston-super-Mare, who said the authority failed to thoroughly evaluate the impact and long term sustainability of community run services.
He claimed the Conservative-run authority failed to adequately consult users of the service or make them aware of the scale and impact of the proposed changes.
The youth service will be replaced by a community family service to support the 300 most vulnerable families – 900 children – in the district.
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