THE Castlegate Centre is very special: a youth advice centre for vulnerable young people that somehow manages the difficult task of being run by adults without being off-putting to the young people it is there to help.

The big worry about moving the service to the city council’s West Offices HQ is that it would lose that quality. You don’t need to be a genius to work out that the gleaming new city council headquarters is the last place where the kind of disadvantaged, mixed-up young people who use Castlegate would feel comfortable.

The decision to close Castlegate has already been called in and will be reconsidered by a cross-party committee on October 31.

Since Labour lost overall control of the council following the resignation of two senior councillors last week, there must be a real possibility that the decision could now be overturned.

The intervention of a group of more than 20 academics from the University of York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work is, therefore, timely.

In an open letter to The Press, the academics say closure of Castlegate would store up long-term problems for the sake of a quick financial ‘fix’. Relocating the service to West Offices would create ‘fundamental barriers’ for young people, they say.

“Essentially, this decision will mean the most vulnerable young people within York are likely to slip through the net,” they warn.

The signatories to this letter are all experts in the field. What they have to say deserves to be listened to. Their views should be given full weight on October 31.

Whatever decision is made, councillors must be sure that they are not further disadvantaging young people who are already disadvantaged enough.