National Youth Guarantee: One Year On

1^st  February 2023 marks one year since the Government announced the National Youth Guarantee (NYG). A lot has changed in the political world since then, so we are taking time to reflect on the announcement, what changes have followed, and what we would like to see moving forward.

A refresher: What is the National Youth Guarantee?

We were delighted on the 1^st February 2022, when the Government announced the National Youth Guarantee (NYG) and accompanying £560m investment, following a Youth Review conducted by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The aim of the review was to develop a clear direction for out of school youth activities, and to ensure that investment and programmes meet the needs of young people, as well as the Government’s ambitions on ‘levelling up’. Throughout the review, DCMS engaged with around 6,000 young people across the country, 170 youth sector organisations, and academics.

The NYG pledge will mean that by 2025, every young person in England should have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. This includes all 11-18 year olds, and up to 25 years old for those with special educational needs and disabilities.

At UK Youth we were strong advocates for the NYG, we believe that every young person should have access to youth work and our research consistently shows the benefits this brings to young people in terms of mental wellbeing, employability and physical health, as well as highlighting the long term benefits it brings to society. Not only that, but our recent research report with Frontier Economics, ‘Youth Work Untapped’ shows that economically the preventative benefit of youth work is around £3.2 billion a year for the Government.

What has happened since February?

The NYG included the commitment of investment into youth services, with various funding streams focused on the most deprived areas of England. Phase one of the Youth Investment Fund, launched in February 2022, provided £10 million for local youth services in urgent need, to expand the reach and range of services they offer and meet demand. Following this, youth services across the most deprived parts of England are now eligible to apply for part of £378 million from phase two of the Youth Investment Fund. The Fund is providing funding for up to 300 youth facilities to be built or refurbished over the next three years, aiming to provide young people with a space to engage in activities outside of school, and access support from youth workers. DCMS also opened a Uniformed Youth Organisations Fund later in 2022, with £1.5 million of grant funding for the establishment of new groups/units. We were also pleased to see DCMS have committed £6 million to the #iWill Fund, matched by the National Lottery Community Fund, to fund more youth volunteering opportunities.

What does the future hold for the NYG?

It is great to see such clear commitment from the Government to out of school youth activities and services, but this welcome investment needs to be sustained, and built upon, in order to unlock youth work for all young people.

There is still a way to go before the NYG’s pledge of access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home, and opportunities to volunteer, is achieved for all young people. This cannot be achieved without investment for the youth workforce, clear action is needed for the Government’s deadline of 2025 to be met.

Last year we set out seven tests the NYG needs to meet in order to be successful:

1. Inter-sector collaboration: Local youth organisations must be empowered to work alongside national groups to engage young people in the expanded funded opportunities.
2. Youth leadership: Young people must be front and centre of the design, delivery, and evaluation of these plans – including shaping how investment is spent.
3. Inclusivity: Young people from all areas of the country and from all backgrounds and ethnicities must benefit.
4. Sustainable funding: A significant proportion of the Youth Investment Fund must be committed to revenue funding to ensure that youth organisations can keep delivering services within new and refurbished spaces; and the government must come forward with a sustainable model for the future.
5. Support for grantees: Recognising years of under-investment, government must work closely with the youth sector to ensure capital and revenue funding is accompanied by wrap-around support to improve youth organisations’ sustainability & impact.
6. Workforce development: There must be sufficient investment in developing the workforce to ensure that there are enough youth workers able to provide quality, long-term provision.
7. Cross-government commitment: There must be a whole government response to ensure that universal youth services are complemented by a step-change in access to specialist support (such as mental health and employment).

These seven tests are just as relevant one year on. The youth sector must work together to maximise the impact of the NYG on young people. We have the opportunity to re-imagine delivery, with more uniformed and non-uniformed youth work organisations working together in the service of the young people in their communities. The Government needs to continue to show its commitment to deliver youth services for all young people.