In a slightly unusual move, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy unveiled how much funding would be provided to deliver the strategy six months before the policy document itself is due to land. Nandy, who knows the sector well from her time as a policy officer in several children’s charities in the noughties, said the strategy will be produced with young people and the sector, and published by next spring in time to influence the Spending Review.
Reaction to the £185mn funding package has been mixed because while it gives with one hand, it takes with the other.
New money to invest in youth centre equipment, local authority infrastructure and education and training pilots is somewhat offset by the ending next year of the National Citizen Service and Youth Investment Fund (YIF), worth a combined £150mn annually.
These funding decisions highlight the highly challenging financial climate facing Nandy’s own ministry – analysis by the Institute for Government shows the Department for Culture, Media and Sport budget will be lower in 2025/26 than in 2010/11. However, this pales in comparison to the situation facing English councils, which will have a combined funding deficit of £2.3bn by next year.
The scale of this funding black hole is why youth work leaders are fearful about what the next round of council budget setting has in store for youth services. Just last month, Birmingham City Council, England’s largest local authority, unveiled plans to slash jobs by half and close youth centres to balance its books. In this context, it is understandable that youth sector leaders are asking if there will be sufficient staff left to run the new youth provision funded through the YIF and the future national strategy.
Ministers have promised that the National Youth Strategy will be a cross-department document. The government could demonstrate its commitment to this by drawing together billions of pounds of funding for young people’s projects spread across Whitehall into a single pot that local authorities could use to deliver the strategy’s goals. It would be more efficient and effective, and secure the future of local youth services.
