National Youth Strategy: Youth Sector Organisations

8. What steps her Department is taking to incorporate information collected by youth sector organisations into the national youth strategy.

The Government are co-producing a new national youth strategy with young people to grip the challenges of the generation. When I entered the Department I was shocked to find no single youth strategy. The last Government funded a lot of good youth work, but I think we can all agree that the challenges facing this generation are immense, and we need to do far more to support them.

On Tuesday, I chaired the all-party parliamentary group on youth affairs, where we discussed this Government’s plans for a national youth strategy with more than 80 young people and organisations from across the sector, including grassroots organisations such as Reaching Higher from my constituency, which supports young people and families across Croydon. The national plan for young people is urgent, but the 73% cut to funding for youth services under the previous Government has resulted in 4,500 youth workers leaving the sector over the past decade, according to the National Youth Agency. Can the Secretary of State outline how her national youth strategy will support youth workers and attract more people back to that vital work?

The youth strategy is an opportunity to look afresh at the training, recruitment and retention of youth workers. My hon. Friend will know that my first job before I came to this place was at the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint. I am aware of the vital work of youth workers—they are a lifeline for young people, and those relationships matter disproportionately to whether a young person succeeds or fails. My Department works with the National Youth Agency to fund training bursaries for individuals who may otherwise be excluded due to cost. We are aware that some of the people who make the best youth workers have had those experiences. We are very committed to working with her and her all-party parliamentary group to ensure that we get this right.

Young Devon provides essential services for young people across Devon, including supported accommodation and mental health provision. When I met Young Devon staff on Friday, they told me the increased employers’ national insurance contributions will cost the charity at least £90,000 just to stand still—that means 100 fewer young people counselled and eight fewer beds offered. What conversations has the right hon. Lady had with the Chancellor to ensure that charities such as Young Devon do not have to reduce their valuable services as a result of the Budget?

It is lovely to hear about the work that Young Devon is doing, which the hon. Lady is supporting in her constituency. The Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock), who has responsibility for civil society, has held a number of roundtables with the sector on this issue to ensure that we are providing the right help and support. The hon. Lady will know that in the Budget, the Government announced plans to raise the threshold at which businesses and charities pay contributions, so that half of charities—the smaller charities—will pay either less or the same as they currently do. Charities can also benefit from relief on employer contributions; that is worth around £6 billion a year. This Government are taking action to protect the sector, and when we launched the civil society covenant a few weeks ago, we made it clear that we want a genuine partnership with charities. They are welcome at the heart of Downing Street. That is why my hon. Friend the Minister for civil society will continue that work.