NYA CEO Leigh gives his thoughts on today’s Autumn Budget announcements.
“Reflecting on today’s Autumn Budget, we welcome the real terms funding increase for local government amounting to £1.3bn, but are disappointed that youth services and the prevention agenda were missing from the Government’s first major fiscal announcement. The vital infrastructure of support that youth services provide young people must not be forgotten, and we hope that measures of support for young people will be integral to the announcements in the upcoming multi-year Spending Review concluding in spring next year.
The Budget marked a welcome recognition of the need for Government to assess the benefits of investment, not just the cost implications, and this is particularly pertinent to youth work which is proven to prevent more costly interventions in the long-term.
Despite limited measures in the Budget for young people, we are encouraged to see commitment and intent from the Government to supporting a greater number of young people through youth work, including through the Young Futures Programme and the development of a co-produced National Youth Strategy.
Leigh Middleton OBE, Chief Executive Officer, National Youth Agency
These promising commitments to the prevention and early intervention agenda are imperative to turn the tide on the complex challenges facing young people and youth provision across the country and mark an important recognition in Westminster of the lifechanging impact the youth work profession has on young people’s lives and outcomes.
We hope the Government’s commitment to co-developing a National Youth Strategy, which rightly acknowledges the devastating impact of youth service cuts and closures, and the need to rebuild the depleted youth work workforce, leads to greater investment in our essential youth services. We look forward to working with the Government to address the urgent challenges facing young people by expanding opportunities through youth work.”
–Leigh Middleton OBE, Chief Executive Officer, National Youth Agency
