Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from Professor Brian Bell, Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, to the Home Secretary on 12 March, why the timescales of the rapid review of the Graduate Route, which they have asked the Migration Advisory Committee to undertake, are much shorter than a normal commission.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

It is important we provide certainty on this issue in a timely manner, which is why we asked the MAC to carry out a rapid review. We will consider the evidence put forward by the MAC very closely.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support local authorities to fulfil their statutory duty to secure a ‘local youth offer’.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. This is funded from the local government settlement which has been increased to £64 billion next year, with a further £500 million dedicated to supporting children and adult social care in recognition of the pressures local authorities are facing.

In September 2023, DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing duty and how to deliver it. Alongside this, DCMS funds a peer review programme for local authorities to learn from each other about the best approaches to youth service provision. We received positive feedback from the areas that have already taken part and are supporting more areas this year.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure youth work is considered in the same esteem as other key professions.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

DCMS supports the youth work workforce through funding the National Youth Agency to deliver its core functions: the maintenance of youth work qualifications, the development of a youth worker and youth services registry, and improved safeguarding and risk management across the sector. This funding ensures that youth workers will have access to high-quality training and support. It also underpins the delivery of the National Youth Guarantee, by helping to ensure that there is a sufficiently qualified and supported workforce.

In addition, over the past three years we have funded the Agency to provide bursaries to help more than 2,000 youth workers access training and qualifications. In particular, the bursary programme supports people from lower socio-economic backgrounds and under-represented groups. In the most recent round of bursary funding, Level 4 certificate places were included for the first time, which will help to enhance the experience and training of existing youth workers and provide a clearer career and development pathway, supporting retention in the sector.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) consideration they have given, and (2) discussions they have had with key stakeholders, on setting sufficiency benchmarks for youth service provision.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. This is funded from the local government settlement, which has been increased to £64 billion next year, with a further £500 million from central government dedicated to supporting children and adult social care in recognition of the pressures local authorities are facing.

In September 2023, DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing duty and how to deliver it. Alongside this, DCMS funds a peer review programme for local authorities to learn from each other about the best approaches to youth service provision. We received positive feedback from the areas that have already taken part, and are supporting more areas this year.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how information education, such as youth work, can complement formal education; and what discussions they have had with key stakeholders.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

HM Government recognises the vital role that informal education, such as youth work, can play in complementing formal education received by young people.

Recent Government research on this topic includes the ‘Youth provision and life outcomes’ study commissioned by DCMS and published in February, and a process evaluation of the Essential Life Skills programme published by the Department for Education in 2020. The Essential Life Skills Programme (2018-19) saw a £21 million investment to implement enhanced extra-curricular activities in primary and secondary schools across 12 Opportunity Areas. Evaluation of the programme revealed high engagement and attendance, particularly among disadvantaged pupils, with reported benefits in confidence, resilience, relationship-building, and social and emotional intelligence.

DCMS and DfE are building on what we learned from this programme to test a new approach to supporting secondary schools to deliver enrichment programmes through the Enrichment Partnership Pilot. This is funded by HM Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund, and is being delivered by the National Citizen Service Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The pilot is being evaluated by the National Foundation for Educational Research.