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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to increase funding for youth services.

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 provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. At the Autumn Budget, we announced £1.3 billion of extra funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year.

We are developing a new National Youth Strategy co-produced with young people, which will set out a new vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this. We will be publishing an interim report this spring and the Strategy will be published this summer.

Funding allocations for specific programmes in 2025/26 will be communicated in due course, following the completion of business planning. It will include:

• Over £85 million of capital funding to create fit-for-purpose spaces in places where it is most needed. This includes the Better Youth Spaces Fund - £26 million for youth clubs to buy new equipment and do renovations;

• The Local Youth Transformation Fund to start the journey of building back lost capability in local areas;

• Completion of Youth Investment Fund projects underway.