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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason youth organisations in Kirklees have been unable to access the Youth Investment Fund; and what central funding is available to support facilities for organisations assisting young people aged 11-18 in Kirklees.

The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people. The Government has committed to a National Youth Guarantee: that by 2025, every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. This will be supported by a three year £560 million investment in youth services, reflecting young people's priorities and addressing the inconsistencies in national youth spending, with a firm focus on levelling up. The Youth Investment Fund is a geographically targeted fund levelling up access to youth services in those areas that need it the most. Ministerial decisions on eligibility criteria were taken on the basis of high quality, robust and publicly available data, details of which are available on the gov.uk website here. Kirklees did not meet the eligibility criteria for the Youth Investment Fund. However, through the National Youth Guarantee DCMS will fund a range of youth programmes across England, such as the National Citizen Service (NCS) and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, as well as volunteering programmes through the #iwill Fund and tackling uniformed youth waiting lists, all of which the young people of Kirklees can benefit from.