Spending Review: Youth Investment Fund re-announced as part of £560m youth work boost

Announcing his Autumn Budget and three-year CSR - the first since 2015 - Sunak pledged £560m for youth services.

He said: “Levelling up is also about restoring the pride people feel in the places they call home.

“To do that, we’re providing £560m for youth services over the next three years, enough to fund up to 300 youth clubs in England.”

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The full CSR document gives very little detail about how the investment will be split, stating: “This will provide up to 300 youth facilities – targeted at areas most in need – through the Youth Investment Fund, and support young people to develop skills and confidence outside school through the National Citizen Service (NCS).”

A breakdown of funds from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport reveals the NCS will receive £173m over three years, £368m will be used to fund up to 300 youth centres across England including Scout huts, youth centres and activity centres through the Youth Investment Fund while a further £20m will be invested in youth services in England.

Youth work leaders have long called for the release of the Youth Investment Fund, which was first announced as a £500m package for youth services by then Chancellor Sajid Javid in September 2019. 

Some expressed disappointment that the review had been used to re-announce the Youth Investment Fund.

Andrew Weston, head of policy and insight at the Marine Society and Sea Cadets, wrote on Twitter: “It was very much announced like new money which I think would make it the third time the Youth Investment Fund cash has been announced.”

Jay Kennedy, director of policy for the Directory of Social Change, added: “Youth sector has been fighting for years to get the Youth Investment Fund announced in 2019 actually delivered. It sounds like monetary recycling…”

Children England said: “The red book suggests it's the oft-announced Youth Investment Fund.”

Sunak has also pledged funding for the continuation of the controversial Turing Scheme, which replaced the Erasmus+ scheme after Brexit, for the next three years, including £110m for the academic year 2022/23.

This investment will “deepen the UK’s history of recognising the importance of cultural and academic exchange,” Sunak’s report states, adding that it will fund thousands of students across the UK to go on “life-changing” placements and exchanges overseas. 

In a bid to increase youth engagement in grassroots sports a further £205m will be invested in up to 8,000 state-of-the-art community football pitches and £22m to refurbish more than 4,500 public tennis courts.

The announcement comes amid fears that a failure to invest immediately in youth services will “decimate” the sector.

Recent research by the YMCA and National Youth Agency found that the average net spending per young person for youth services has fallen from £136 to £54 since 2011.