Enfield Council has been accused of “letting down” the borough’s youngsters after failing to win funding for youth projects.

Conservative leader Cllr Joanne Laban blamed an “incompetent” submission by the council for its failure to win money from a £15 million pot aimed at providing more opportunities for young Londoners – particularly those at risk of getting caught up in crime.

The Mayor of London’s Young Londoners Fund was set up to support a range of education, sport, cultural and other activities for children and young people.

But the council’s bid for the money – which came on top of an earlier £30 million funding round – was unsuccessful after the Greater London Authority ruled the proposals lacked “outputs, outcomes and capability”.

The council has defended its bid and pointed out that only a small number of applications were successful.

Cllr Laban said: “Enfield’s Labour Council let down our young people with this submission.

“It shows incompetence as many other boroughs were awarded funding but Enfield missed out.

“We are lucky to have a lot going on in Enfield for young people – just not run by Enfield Council – but we need to do more given our problems with serious youth violence.”

Cllr Laban called on the council to “sharpen up its act” when it comes to putting together funding bids.

Labour councillors defended their record on crime at a full council meeting last month that followed a spate of violence in Edmonton.

They blamed funding cuts to the Metropolitan Police and the council for stopping them from tackling crime and its causes.

The council put on a £100,000 package of youth activities during the summer months aimed at preventing youngsters from getting caught up in criminal activity.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “Enfield’s bid to the Young Londoner’s Fund focused on providing additional support to children and young people at risk of school exclusion and/or starting to become involved in crime and was to supplement existing provision.

“The bid was developed by a partnership board of council officers and partner agencies including the police and community organisations.

“The grant fund that we applied for received 109 bids from all parts of London totalling £85 million against a fund of £45 million.

“Only four bids were successful, receiving a total of £3.8 million between them.

“Given the level of need in our borough and our historical underfunding we are very disappointed to have not been successful on this occasion and will be submitting another bid when the next funding round for the Young Londoners Fund opens in the new year.”