Lords show support for UK Youth-backed National Youth Strategy listening exercise

Leading peers have thrown their weight behind the Government’s UK Youth-backed “national listening exercise” to shape the National Youth Strategy.

Members of the House of Lords gathered to seek updates on the development of the strategy, during a debate triggered by Baroness Joyce Anelay.

 It follows the Department for Culture, Media and Sport launching Deliver You, a national “listening exercise” across England inviting young people to have their say on the issues and solutions that matter most to them. The #iwill Movement – powered by UK Youth and Volunteering Matters – is playing a key role in putting young people’s views at the centre of the National Youth Strategy.

Baroness Anelay said: “I hope young people will know enough about it and will want to engage with it, to make it as valuable as it can be.”

Baroness Frances D’Souza said: “It is estimated that three-quarters of youth clubs have closed down. The impact of this is profound. If young people, especially in rural areas, have nowhere to go where they can be both safe and engaged, the inevitable result is street gatherings. Recent research demonstrates violent gangs and knife crime are significantly more frequent and more serious in those urban and rural areas lacking any youth facilities.

“There is no doubt the announcement of a National Youth Strategy which will be with us by the summer is good news.”

Baroness Hilary Armstrong said: “We have let down a generation of children and young people. The National Citizen Service, good as it was, was never going to be a replacement for decent youth work activities where young people live, grow up and go to school.”

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, chair of both the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award board of trustees and Sport Wales, highlighted the work of the Back Youth Alliance, whose members include both UK Youth and the DofE. The Back Youth Alliance will also be hosting an upcoming panel session connecting young people and policymakers in parliament in early April.

She said: “At the DofE, we are proud to be part of the Back Youth Alliance, a coalition of leading youth organisations. Together, we share a vision: a future where young people feel safe, respected and heard and in which they can successfully navigate the undeniably tough time that is adolescence, developing the skills and capabilities they need to thrive in life and work. 

“Now, more than ever, we need to step up and recognise that young people need and deserve a truly sustainable and effective youth strategy that puts young people at the very heart of policy.

The Joined Up Summit – convened by UK Youth in Birmingham last year – was highlighted by Baroness D’Souza during the debate.

The Baroness said: “Last November, and before the announcement of the National Youth Strategy, UK Youth convened the Joined Up Summit. Some 500 leaders and decision-makers from all sectors, together with a representative group of 16 to 25 year-olds, discussed what, in their opinion, the strategy should include.

“After 15 years of brutal cuts to local government youth work budgets – by about three-quarters since 2010 – the consensus was that major investment was now needed. It was agreed not only that such a strategy had to go beyond engagement to empowerment, but that young voices must be heard and included from the design and implementation to the evaluation stages.”

Responding, Baroness Fiona Twycross, culture, media and sport parliamentary under-secretary, welcomed the debate.

She said: “I have witnessed the crucial and transformative role youth services play in young people’s lives. Our Government strive to support this sector so young people are able to be part of a supportive community and have access to positive and enriching activities.

“This work on the youth sector will help to deliver on the Government’s missions, spreading opportunities, making our streets safer and taking pressure off health services. I was pleased to hear young people’s mental health referenced.

“The national youth survey, which was launched on March 5, asks young people what they need to be able to thrive. This survey has already had just over 6,000 responses in the past week and we clearly hope to get many more. We will collate these and all future responses to shape our strategy, which will be published in the summer.

“We are engaging with young people up and down the country through one of the most ambitious listening exercises for a generation, making sure that we reach young people where they are.”

To read the debate in full, see shorturl.at/uI4jf

About UK Youth

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 9,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, see ukyouth.org

UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/our-programmes

About the Back Youth Alliance

The Back Youth Alliance was created to champion solutions together with young people for our most pressing challenges, speaking with one voice and ensuring that funding delivers the greatest impact. Members include: Scouts; The Centre for Youth Impact; The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award; Girlguiding; Onside; National Youth Agency; YMCA; UK Youth and Youth United Foundation.