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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made in establishing a network of youth hubs; and what steps she is taking to support existing youth provision to work with youth hubs.

This Government is committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential and we recognise the importance of early intervention to ensure young people can live safe and healthy lives.

Fundamental to this is the delivery of the Young Futures Programme which will work to identify young people most at risk of being drawn into crime and other poor outcomes and create a network of Young Futures Hubs in communities across the country. We will work closely across government, with external partners and young people, to design and develop the proposals for Young Futures Hubs, in a cohesive and integrated way, ensuring they meet young people’s needs and build on existing provision and expertise. We will share more information in due course.

More broadly, this government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving young people’s life chances and wellbeing. 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 in their area. This is funded through the Local Government Settlement which amounts to over £60 billion this year.