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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Youth Covid Support Fund 2021.

The government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people.

On 25 November 2020, the government announced the £16.5 million Youth Covid-19 Support Fund (YCSF). This stabilisation funding was to support youth organisations to mitigate the impact of lost income during the winter period, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and ensure services providing vital support to young people could remain open. The fund opened for applications on 15 January 2021 and closed on 19 February 2021.

The department sets objectives for grant funding when designing the grant scheme and allocates funding in accordance with those objectives. The department also conducts post-event assurance and evaluation of the outcomes achieved. The evaluation for the YCSF was published 1 February 2022 and can be found here.