Youth Services: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure local authorities have sufficient funds for youth services.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock
Local authorities hold the statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. Local Authorities fund youth services from their Local Government Settlement in line with local need, and this was increased to more than £69 billion in 2025/26 - a 6.8% increase in cash terms compared to 2024/25.
We will be launching the Local Youth Transformation pilot this year, which will support select local authorities to build back capability to improve local youth offers. We will share more information in due course.
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