Youth Services: Disadvantaged
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department is providing to local authorities to support youth clubs, sports facilities and holiday activity programmes in high-deprivation communities.
Answered by Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
In December 2025, DCMS published Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy, a 10-year cross-government plan backed by over £500 million of DCMS funding over three years to improve opportunities for young people, including establishing or refurbishing up to 250 youth spaces.
Local Authorities have a statutory duty under Section 507B of the Education Act 1996 to secure sufficient youth services and activities based on local need. The National Youth Strategy committed to improve local youth offers so young people have access to more opportunities in their area. To achieve this, DCMS is funding local authorities to deliver the Young Futures Hubs and Transformation Programme to improve local youth services and establish a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs by March 2029.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport clubs through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery Funding. This investment includes over 90 Place Partnerships in various locations across the country with high deprivation and low activity levels.
For holiday activities, the Department for Education funds the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme to support children from low-income families by providing access to nutritious meals, enriching activities and safe places during school holidays. Over £600 million has been confirmed for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme over the next three financial years from 2026/27.
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