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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure adequate funding for youth organisations.

Local authorities are responsible for allocating public funding to youth services in their area. We believe they are best placed to know what is required in their communities.

Alongside this, we are investing in youth organisations in a number of ways including:

• National Citizen Service (over £1bn has been allocated to NCS between 15/16 and 19/20) which is delivered via a supply chain network of over 100 organisations, including many youth organisations;
• Creating a new, independent organisation that will administer a £90m fund using money from dormant accounts to address barriers to employment for young people, in areas of significant racial disparity. We have released £1.2m of this funding [today] to boost the capacity of vital grass-roots youth organisations working with young people in three areas of the country who are not in education, employment or training;
• Up to £80 million (in partnership with Big Lottery Fund) through the Youth Investment and #iwill Funds in voluntary and community organisations that work with young people; and
• The £2m Building Connections Fund, in partnership with the Co-op Foundation, which is available to youth organisations helping to support young people to avoid long-term loneliness.