Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to create Young Futures Hubs in every local authority area; and whether they intend to set out a workforce development plan to support the creation of Young Futures Hubs.

The government has committed to the creation of a new Young Futures Programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships. Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.

Officials from across a range of departments are already working jointly, using evidence of what works to start to shape the Young Futures Hubs model. As part of this we are engaging with local areas, communities, statutory partners, charities, and other key stakeholders, including assessing evidence they have supplied, to support the design of the Young Futures Hubs and explore options for their delivery, including considering how best to engage with those young people who would benefit most from support.

Across Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships, the government is adopting a phased approach to learn from what works. To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, we will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. These early adopters and work in local areas will inform the longer-term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.