Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to involve young people in the co-production of local youth services.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Co-produced with 14,000 young people, ‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’ is a 10 year plan to ensure every young person across the country has somewhere to go, someone who cares for them and a community they feel part of.
A key focus of the Strategy is to empower young people, placing them in the driving seat of designing local youth services. We are ensuring local authorities co-design their local youth offers with young people to meet their needs.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure a place-based approach to funding of youth services.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The National Youth Strategy includes a shift from national to local. This will renew focus on the role, capability, and leadership of local authorities, with a place-based approach to funding to empower local communities and young people in designing their local youth offers. Through this approach, we are committed to ensuring funding reaches those most in need across the length and breadth of England.
The £70m Local Youth Transformation programme is improving local authorities’ capability to rebuild a high-quality youth offer and develop a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs. We are also simplifying local authority grant funding across government and consolidating local funding for young people and families where possible. This provides greater local flexibility and sustainability.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) economic and (b) social impact of loneliness.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
There are multiple sources of evidence on loneliness including research on the economic and social impact of loneliness.
The economic impact of loneliness
DCMS research estimates that the costs associated with loneliness based on the impact on subjective wellbeing, health and productivity of the chronically lonely individual can be represented as a yearly sum of £9,537 per person. Chronic loneliness refers to loneliness that occurs frequently over a period of time, this has been shown to have a negative effect on health and wellbeing.
This figure is our current best estimate. It is challenging to understand the economic impact of loneliness as it can be difficult to disentangle this from the impact of other drivers of low wellbeing. Further research is underway to enhance our understanding of these nuances.
The social impact of loneliness
DCMS research shows a bidirectional and cyclical relationship between chronic loneliness and mental health, with people experiencing chronic loneliness 3.7 times more likely to experience mental health distress compared to those who do not experience chronic loneliness. Furthermore, external research in the US and the Quartet Community Foundation Health and Wellbeing report demonstrate the negative impact chronic loneliness can have on physical health.
Loneliness has also been linked to poorer educational and employment performance by external research and DCMS research suggests those who are unemployed and economically inactive are more likely to experience chronic loneliness.