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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of youth services in local communities.

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 educational and recreational activities for young people.

On the 10th December, the Government published ‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’ alongside a State of the Nation report. It is backed by over £500 million of funding over the next few years from DCMS for things to do outside of school, support when and where young people need it, more safe spaces and access to trusted adults. This includes investing in selected local areas to develop high-quality youth offers and local leadership through our Local Youth Transformation Programme. Learnings will be shared across the youth and local government sectors to establish national best practices.

We have also worked to ensure that metrics covering youth services are included within the Local Outcomes Framework under the priority outcome very Child Achieving and Thriving’ to increase consistency and quality of youth service delivery across local areas.