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 potential merits of making the provision of youth services a statutory duty for councils.

Government does place an existing statutory duty on local authorities through the Education Act 2006 (Section 507B) to secure, as far as is practicable, sufficient services and activities to improve the wellbeing of young people. However, in fulfilling this responsibility government believes that local authorities should be empowered to decide how best to secure services that meet the needs of young people within the budget that is available to them.

Government is committed to ensuring all young people can reach their full potential and has recently announced an £80 million investment in the youth sector that is being delivered through the Youth Investment Fund and the #iwill Fund.