Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the funding settlement and timetable for spending will be for Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council for the new Youth Hub provision announced as Tranche 3 of new Youth Hubs.

The government is committed to ensuring every young person aged 16 – 24 has support and opportunities to enter work or education. We are investing over £2.5bn to help young people build skills, gain experience and progress into earning or learning through the Youth Guarantee and additional investment in apprenticeships via the Growth and Skills Levy over the next three years. This will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn or learn.

Youth Hubs are a core component of the Youth Guarantee. We are expanding Youth Hubs to over 360 areas across Great Britain, underpinned by a core blueprint for minimum service standards. This will make support more accessible and better integrated with other local services in line with local needs and partnerships, ensuring young people can access joined-up employment, skills, housing and wellbeing support in their communities. As part of this, the Tonbridge and Malling borough is included in year 3 2028/2029 of the rollout.

Youth Hubs are not funded solely by DWP and rely on local authorities and other external partners to provide premises and the supporting infrastructure. DWP can fund partner staff salaries, IT and administrative support to help ensure effective delivery of services for young people. DWP will also provide work coaches to work in Youth Hubs for a minimum of three days per week.

Local engagement will form an important part of establishing a Youth Hub in Tonbridge and Malling. Members with an interest may wish to engage with their local jobcentre Service Leader to understand local plans. Collaboration between Jobcentres, local authorities and community organisations will help ensure young people can access joined-up employment, skills and wider support.