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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of youth club closures on the rate of crime committed by young people.

The Government recognises that there are a range of complex causes of youth crime and that these are often tied to local factors. However, it is the local authorities’ role to allocate funding and deliver youth services in line with local need. We are not aware of any conclusive evidence of a direct link between the closure of youth clubs and crimes committed by young people.

This government is committed to young people and levelling up opportunities. We are investing £500 million over five years through the new Youth Investment Fund to build new youth centres, refurbish existing youth facilities, provide mobile facilities for harder to reach areas, and to invest in the youth work profession and frontline services.

Government is also funding up to £7 million this financial year through the Youth Accelerator Fund, expanding existing successful projects that are delivering positive activities for young people, and to address urgent needs in the youth sector. UK Youth is distributing over £1 million of this funding to grassroots youth organisations across the country.