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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that students from low socio-economic backgrounds, in rural areas, have access to funds for extra curricular activities.

My department has been co-producing a new National Youth Strategy with young people from all backgrounds, including those in rural areas from low socio-economic backgrounds, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential The Strategy will support better coordination of youth services across different regions, including rural areas and move away from one-size-fits-all approaches. This includes enhancing access to high-quality enrichment opportunities through an enrichment expansion programme, which will invest £22.5 million across 3 years to support up to 400 schools to provide a youth-voice led and tailored extracurricular enrichment offer.

By doing so we are providing a voice for all young people and their communities to help rebuild the youth and extra-curricular provision throughout the country.