National Youth
The Government has launched Youth Matters, the first dedicated youth strategy in 20 years. Youth work is central to this ten-year plan to change the lives and outcomes for young people.
‘Youth Matters’: What is The National Youth Strategy?
The Government has launched its long-awaited National Youth Strategy. The strategy outlines a variety of commitments to young people and youth services.
Youth work/worker is referenced 42 times in the document and is the foundation on which it rests. Youth work is fundamental to the success of the 10-year plan. So, where is the money being spent?
As part of the strategy the Government has committed money to:
- Build or refurbish up to 250 youth facilities over the next four years
- Provide equipment for activities to around 2500 youth organisations, through a new £350 million ‘Better Youth Spaces’ programme
- Launch a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs by March 2029 as part of a £70 million local transformation programme
- Support organisations in underserved areas to deliver high-quality youth work and activities through a ‘Richer Young Lives Fund’ worth over £60 million
- Boost young people’s wellbeing, personal development, and essential life skills through a new £22.5 million programme of support around the school day in up to 400 schools
- Recruit and train youth workers, volunteers and other trusted adults with £15 million of investment
- Spend £5 million to strengthen youth services by improving local partnerships, better information sharing, and digital infrastructure, ensuring young people receive high-quality, safe, and effective support in their communities
Published alongside the Strategy is the ‘State of the Nation’ survey commissioned by the Culture Secretary showing what life as a young person in 2025 looks like; from coping with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, an always-on digital world, to ongoing global uncertainty. The Strategy responds to these challenges with promises to young people to:
- Reverse the decline in local government spending on young people
- Give half a million more young people access to a trusted adult outside their home
- Equip them with essential skills, such as resilience or how to manage their online safety
- Halve the gap of who gets to do meaningful activities between richer and poorer families (both inside and outside the school environment)
What else has the Government promised?
The Strategy includes other commitments to support young people across the country this year, including:
- The Culture Secretary’s ‘Every Child Can’ £132.5 million commitment to support the provision of services, facilities or enrichment opportunities between 2024 and 2028 for young people through distribution of Dormant Assets Fund by the National Lottery Community Fund
- The Department for Work and Pensions’ £820 million funding package to support young people across Great Britain into employment and training, creating almost 300,000 more skills and training opportunities for young people on Universal Credit, and a £725 million package of reforms to the apprenticeship system to help tackle youth unemployment and drive economic growth, with thousands more young people expected to benefit over the next three years
- A £400 million investment by The Department for Culture, Media and Sport in new and upgraded local community sport facilities over the next four years
Young Futures Hubs
Young Futures Hubs have been designed to provide young people access to youth workers and other professionals, supporting their wellbeing and career development and preventing them from harm.
National Youth Agency, who is leading the delivery of the Local Youth Transformation Programme (LYTP), will also lead on supporting the development of the Young Futures Hubs in Early Adopter Local Authorities in partnership with youth sector partners.
How is National Youth Agency supporting the delivery of the National Youth Strategy?
As the national body for youth work, we will work to:
- Provide support and coordination across the youth sector at the national level to plan for future workforce needs and raise the status of youth workers, for example, through the National Youth Sector Advisory Board and national campaigns such as Youth Work Week
- Support youth work to be safe for everyone through our online safeguarding and risk management hub. We are committed to ensuring that adults working with young people are properly trained and able to engage safely with them, no matter where they are
- Ensure youth work qualifications, standards, and youth work curriculum respond better to the needs of the young people and explore ways to champion and share best practice. We will continue to engage the sector in our youth work qualifications transformation programme to ensure we’re ready to meet the needs of young people tomorrow
- Roll out the National Youth Sector Census to a greater number of organisations and youth workers across the country. This helps us understand the landscape across organisations and the challenges that the youth workforce face
- Maintain and expand a register for professional youth workers to record their learning and ongoing professional development
- Champion youth voice through the Youth Council for the UK to support the transformative power of youth voice in driving meaningful change in communities across the country
- Advocate for prioritisation of youth services in local strategies, for example, through an enhanced Statutory Duty and sufficiency benchmarks
- Secure more funding for grassroots youth work through innovative forms of investment, e.g. through the new Every Child Can Fund or through securing Levy transfer for apprenticeships
We are also currently contracted to deliver the following programmes in partnership with others in the sector: the Local Youth Transformation Pilot Programme, Young Futures Hubs and the UK Youth Parliament.
What’s next?
The NYA has been deeply involved in highlighting the significance of youth work to the Government in the design of the Strategy and have been part of the Expert Advisory Group feeding into the Strategy development. It has also convened the National Youth Sector Advisory Board to provide a conduit from DCMS to the sector to support the Strategy development through a series of workshops. We will continue working with the Government, to advocate for the profession, ensure that decision makers are held accountable, and that these plans become a reality.
Looking ahead, we’re partnering with DCMS, and other sector partners, on a series of Roadshows in early 2026. These events will be your opportunity to discuss the Strategy and learn more about and shape key initiatives, including the qualifications transformation programme. Sign up to our newsletter for updates and registration details coming soon.
