Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of local youth clubs that have permanently closed since April 2020.

My department does not hold data around the number of youth clubs that have closed since April 2020.

Government recognises the important role that youth groups play in communities, which is why we recently announced the £16.5 million Youth Covid-19 Support Fund (YCSF) that will protect the immediate future of grassroots and national youth services across the country. The YCSF opened on Friday 15 January 2021 and will remain open until 19 February. It will help to mitigate the impact of lost income during the winter period due to the coronavirus pandemic, and ensure services providing vital support can remain viable.

This funding will be drawn from the unprecedented £750m package for the voluntary and community sector. More than £60m of this has already been directed towards organisations supporting children and young people.