National Youth Strategy

Lord Addington Excerpts

Thursday 23rd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

Having seen at first hand the importance of the Fire Cadets when I was working for the Mayor of London, I know, and the department and the Secretary of State know, that uniformed youth organisations provide impactful opportunities for young people nationwide. We have provided over £24 million since 2022 to expand their provision. Following discussions with my noble friend at the beginning of the year—and proving the value of Oral Questions—we are currently providing £1.2 million in transitional funding to build their long-term sustainability and resilience. These organisations remain a valued part of the youth sector, and we will share eligibility criteria for future funding streams in due course.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, the Government have announced a policy. That is great, but we have had other policies in this area before. What guidance can we get so that the Government are tapping into those established organisations—we have heard about the uniformed officers, but there are also the national governing bodies in sports—which have an incentive to ensure that these things continue to run? What are the Government doing to ensure that those who are already in the field have a guarantee that for the next few years they will get extra help?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

As I said, we will publish the criteria in due course, but I assure the noble Lord that we worked with young people and sector experts in co-producing the strategy Youth Matters. Those voices from the sector were at the heart of how we created the strategy and they will be part of the conversation going forward.