UK Youth welcomes National Youth Strategy plan – and urges investment to back it

UK Youth has hailed the Government’s pledge to develop a National Youth Strategy – and urged leaders to commit funding to it in the upcoming Budget.

Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy said the Government will “develop and co-produce a strategy for a generation of young people”, working alongside them and youth workers, “to support a generation to succeed”.

Her pledge came after she branded past cuts to youth funding “a national shame”.

UK Youth has long called for a national youth strategy, “setting out an overarching vision for young people that brings together cross-departmental priorities”.

And Ms Nandy’s pledge has been given a warm welcome by Jacob Diggle, UK Youth chief impact officer.

He said: “We have been talking to MPs and ministers about the need for a national youth strategy and are delighted the Government has listened and recognised the importance of youth work and the vital, life-saving roles undertaken by incredible youth workers up and down the country.

“With more than a billion pounds a year cut from youth services in recent years, this is welcome recognition. We now urge the Government to follow its words with actions. This month’s Budget is an opportunity to invest in youth work for the benefit of young people nationwide.

“Indeed, UK Youth’s Untapped research has shown increasing investment in youth work can actually save billions of pounds by improving employment and health outcomes, and reducing crime, while DCMS-backed research published this year found young people who received youth work support as teenagers were happier, healthier, wealthier and more active in their communities as adults, compared with those who did not.”  

Ms Nandy made the pledge while answering questions in the House of Commons.

Responding to a question from Melanie Onn, Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, about the impact of youth services on levels of antisocial behaviour, Ms Nandy said: “ It is a source of national shame that youth funding decreased by 73 per cent under the last Government – one of the deepest cuts made to any of our public services – and that there was no real strategy for a generation of young people. This Government are determined to get a grip on this issue to ensure that young people in towns such as Grimsby have the opportunities that they deserve.

Commending youth organisations in Great Grimsby, her own constituency of Wigan and the Chorley constituency of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Ms Nandy said: “I would be delighted to pay tribute to youth workers up and down this country, who have done incredible work. They have been a lifeline for young people in what has been a very bleak landscape for too long.”

And addressing Ms Onn’s question, she continued: “We are determined to grip this issue. One of the things the new Government discovered when we opened the books is that, although there are several funding sources within my Department and across Government, there is no youth strategy at all. We are determined to set that right. We will develop and co-produce a strategy for a generation of young people, working alongside them and with incredible youth workers to support a generation to succeed.”

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 9,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, visit ukyouth.org 

UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes