MPs' review backs national workforce strategy for youth work

The report by MPs Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Ben Bradley reviews developments in youth work policy and practice over the past five years and sets out priorities for the next government to build on recent improvements in youth services provision.

• Analysis: Review highlights best practice to shape the future of youth work

• Analysis: Making the case for putting youth services on a sustainable footing

The MPs conclude that whichever party wins the general election later this year will need to “secure stable funding that sustains youth work and supports its growth to meet young people’s increasing needs”. This will require a joined-up approach across government departments, they say, and call for the appointment of a minister with a portfolio focussed on young people.

“A cross-departmental committee would be chaired by the minister, with shared outcomes to read across government, research and practice readily understood by young people. An annual report would be presented to parliament for a scrutiny hearing by a select committee, with mechanisms for youth voice and representation at all levels of decision-making,” the report states.

With youth work achieving “essential service” status during the pandemic, the MPs argue that a national youth work workforce strategy is needed to “stimulate demand for, rather than supply of, youth workers”.

The report, titled Moving forward with youth work: An agenda for change, states: “The strategy and guidance should include clear expectations for what sufficient youth provision is and the capacity to deliver locally, including the ratio of professional youth workers, trainees and volunteers."

The report recognises the variability of youth services provision across England and states that while “some local councils step up to the plate, others go missing which has created a patchwork of provision and funding in many areas”.

To try and overcome issues around what a “sufficient” level of service is that councils should provide, the MPs recommend the development of a standardised and national system for evaluating the sufficiency, suitability and quality of youth work to aid the creation of a “coherent” local youth offer.

“To achieve this, local youth partnerships should be developed which incorporate young people in its design and decision making, and new ‘light touch’ inspection arrangements and quality assurance,” it states.

The MPs’ report also contains examples of innovative and effective relationship-based youth work approaches, the result of a call for evidence on what works and emerging models conducted by Children and Young People Now in early 2024.

Some of the models of practice championed include voluntary sector led youth services in Brighton, the community-based approach used by Oasis in south London, and how charities like Roundhouse and Football Beyond Borders incorporate the arts and sport for youth outreach.

Russell-Moyle, Labour MP for Brighton and Kemptown, and Bradley, Conservative MP for Mansfield and a member of Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “As this parliament draws to a close and a new government is formed after the general election public spending will be held tight. There is no ‘quick fix’. Rather we need to re-set how we engage, involve and empower young people which means making decisions viewed through the lens of their young lives.

“How we support and resource youth work will be pivotal. We look to increased devolved responsibilities and joined-up funding, to enable councils or combined authorities to present a community-based local youth offer, held accountable by residents including young people in line with their local needs and priorities, with voluntary and community organisations alongside a set of local public services.”