Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the (a) effectiveness of annual grant funding and (b) potential merits of maintaining long-term funding for youth justice.

Much of government spending is allocated via an annual budgetary process, which often requires complex choices that can take time to be resolved. This year, the General Election complicated this further – it was not possible for the Department to confirm funding decisions during the election period after the election was called on 22 May 2024. However, within a matter of days of coming into government, we made this decision, and it was communicated to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs).

This Government recognises the challenges associated with late annual allocations for local youth justice services and the need for YOTs to have stable funding for financial planning.

We want to ensure that local services are equipped to make effective use of grant funding. The upcoming multi-year Spending Review is an opportunity for this Government to assess how funding is most efficiently delivered.