Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of youth services in supporting young people aged 16 to 24 to progress into education, training or employment.

Evidence has shown that investment in youth services, fun and enriching activities, and trusted adults such as youth workers, can help build young people’s skills for life and work. This is by supporting the development of soft skills, which are associated with positive longer term outcomes such as teamwork, resilience and self-confidence, in addition to improving mental wellbeing. It can also help young people access opportunities they may not get at school or college.

This is why we’ve launched Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy. It is an ambitious plan to support young people to learn and get into good jobs, and is backed by over £500 million of funding from DCMS for fun things to do outside of school, support when and where young people need it, more safe spaces and access to trusted adults.

To deliver on the commitments made in Youth Matters, we will provide over £400 million to enable youth organisations across the country to deliver high-quality youth work and activities as well as refurbish or build up to 250 youth facilities through the Youth Matters Fund. DCMS, in strategic partnership with DfE, has also launched a £22.5 million investment across 3 years to support up to 400 schools to provide a youth led, tailored enrichment offer through the Enrichment Expansion Programme. Alongside this, DCMS has announced a £132.5m investment of dormant assets into Every Child Can, which will fund opportunities exclusively across five key categories of enrichment: civic engagement; arts and culture; nature, outdoor and adventure; sport and physical activities; and developing wider life and future skills.

50 Young Futures Hubs will launch by the end of this Parliament to offer mental health support, careers guidance, and activities to support young people progress into education, employment and training and other positive pathways. Eight Young Futures Hubs became operational in the 25/26 financial year, and on 16th September we announced the local authorities who will develop the next 42 new hubs and be operational by March 2029. These have been developed in partnership with DWP, and will link with Youth Hubs and complement the Youth Guarantee to support youth employment and learning. We’ll also be funding 1,000 new specialised youth workers for community-based, early intervention support for young people at high risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training). This is part of our work to rebuild the youth workforce, advancing our goal for 500,000 more young people to be able to access a trusted adult by 2035.