Open youth work: the wider youth services policy and funding contexts

March 2026

This post focuses on some of the Labour government’s overarching youth policy priorities since it came to power in July 2024 – a key issue for addressing the blog’s overall stated purpose of updating developments affecting open youth work practice. It particularly evidences and analyses the continuing severe financial constraints on ‘youth services’ in England; outlines some of the youth sector’s responses and initiatives; analyses government proposals for implementing and indeed extending these services; and considers the ways in which it says it will fund them.

Barriers and enablers to young people’s participation

As a contribution to its evidence base for developing future policy initiatives, particularly its proposed National Youth Strategy (NYS)[1], in August 2025 the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) released findings on what inhibited and what enabled young people’s involvement in youth activities.[2] The ‘key characteristics’ shaping their participation were defined as ‘… age, sexuality and gender identity, deprivation, ethnicity, disability and health, being LGBTQ+ and geography’. With ‘enjoyment’, developing skills and keeping fit ‘particularly important’ motivations, young people were also ‘… unanimous on the importance of youth voice, agency and empowerment for increasing participation and satisfaction’.

The barriers to participation were categorised in the report in two broad ways: as ‘practical’ – explained, for example, as ‘cost and affordability, access and transport’; and ‘attitudinal, psychological and relational’ – exemplified as ‘confidence and apprehension (and) when environments feel inclusive, welcome and accessible…’

Budget pressures and their impacts

In an updating of its 2024 National Youth Sector Census report, in September 2025 the National Youth Agency (NYA) highlighted the continuing budget pressures on the youth sector.[3] With by then 69 per cent of all youth work being delivered by the voluntary and community sector, 60 per cent of these organisations were facing higher running costs, forcing 63 per cent of them to cut their operating budgets. As a result 34 per cent were questioning their capacity to function normally beyond six months and 43 per cent their ability to last twelve months.

These financial constrains were having significant impacts on their open youth work delivery, with 44 per cent reporting waiting lists of sometimes more than six months. Eighty-four per cent were dealing with increased demand from young people needing mental health support and 48 per cent from those at risk of being victims of crime or of becoming involved in violence.

A February 2024 YMCA report provided some more positive news.[4] It for example recorded that, compared with the previous 12 months, between April 2022 and March 2023 there had been some small increases in councils’ spending on youth services and in the number of youth centres and employed youth workers. Doubts however were expressed when it emerged that some council returns had included Department for Education (DfE) grants for Holiday Activities and for Food Programme events. In early 2024 the Chair of the House of Commons All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on youth services was thus still pressing for funding for youth work ‘… to grow and … be more consistent across the board’.

Following the Chancellor’s June 2025 Spending Review, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) commented that, though parts of this were welcome, it didn’t do enough to support charities. [5] It also highlighted that, with the voluntary sector by then delivering over £14 billion worth of public services, three-quarters of the councils on which the sector often relied for financial support were assuming ongoing budgetary pressures into 2025-26. In January 2026 a Guardian leader labelled this a ‘perfect storm’ which had made 2025 ‘an annus horribilis’ for charities[6] – a situation which, according to YMCA findings released the previous January, had already resulted in one in seven local councils areas in England having no youth centres.[7].

In February 2026 the charity funder Social Investment Business (SIB) published further evidence of these financial pressures.[8] This talked of ‘youth work black holes’ across England in areas where young people who were experiencing high levels of deprivation and anti-social behaviour had minimal access to youth services. Deep regional inequalities were also identified, with some neighbourhoods having ‘inadequate provision to meet high youth needs’. This prompted Bethia McNeil, the YMCA’s director of quality and impact, to conclude that ‘some young people probably wouldn’t even know what a youth club is any more…’

The publication of these findings co-incided with the release in early 2026 of updated data from the YMCA itself. This showed for example that, compared with £492 million in 2023/24, in 2024/25 councils had spent only £456 million on youth work services – a fall of 7 per cent, the steepest annual drop in 8 years.[9] As a result, though the number of youth centres run by other organisations had risen from 295 to 432 and the percentage of areas reporting having no youth centres had fallen from 16 per cent to 8 per cent, the number being provided by local authorities themselves had dropped from 429 to 379. ‘Workforce capacity’ had also remained ‘far below historic levels’.

Some youth sector responses

Faced with these often highly diversionary pressures, youth sector bodies responded with some specific policy proposals. For example, a YMCA ‘manifesto’ published in February 2024 ahead of the anticipated general election later that year urged the main political parties to commit to ‘sustained and long-term revenue funding to bolster universal and open-access youth services, year-round’.[10] The Local Government Association (LGA) made a parallel demand, suggesting ‘a cross-departmental strategy for children, young people and families’ and calling on the government ‘to provide adequate funding to councils so they can deliver on their statutory duty …’[11]

In its ‘pre-election manifesto’ published in March 2024, the NYA went further, calling for a new ‘Statutory Duty Youth Services Act’. [12] On the back of its 2025 Census survey, it later stated that this should include ‘an enhanced sufficiency duty’ which, underpinned by ringfenced funding, would move councils’ statutory duties from ‘ambiguity to guarantees’. This might require each local authority to appoint in its area at least one level 6-qualified youth worker for each 500 13-19 year olds and SEND young people up to age 24 – a requirement which would cover all relevant voluntary and community sector groups.[13]

In their different ways NYA’s Leigh Middleton and UK Youth’s Chief Executive Ndidi Okezie evidenced why support for youth initiatives required these forms of funding commitments.[14] The former pointed to the fifth of local councils which by then were facing a financial deficit; the latter to the proposed £112 million cut to the children, young people and families services in Birmingham which, according to one BBC report, could result in the closure of most of the authority-run clubs and projects.[15]

Some top-down policy responses

A ‘Pride in Place Strategy’

In September 2025 the government published a ‘Pride in Place Strategy’ statement.[16] This sought to address ‘a style of government’ which, caused in part by ‘austerity, deindustrialisation (and) an uncritical embrace of globalisation’, had removed people’s control of local facilities. The paper set out ‘an alternative (for) putting people in control of their lives, and their local areas’ – ‘a whole of government pilot in sharing power’ in order to ‘help communities take back control’. In January 2026 news emerged that, for example, a £535,000 allocation from the programme had prevented the closure of Ramsgate Youth Centre.[17]

Funding the promised National Youth Strategy

By late 2024 some in the sector were interpreting the government’s promise of a National Youth Strategy as a sign that improving support for young people was now near the top of its policy priorities. With an explicit focus on ‘increas(ing) disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services…’, the allocation from the now relabelled ‘Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy’ had been increased to £132.5 million. [18]

Many in the sector, however, remained cautious, partly because of the financial pressures on local councils outlined above, partly also because of what they saw as the scale of young people’s needs.[19] Some even remained concerned that the new government might actually reduce its overall support for open access facilities as at this point it had not confirmed – as the LGA was demanding – that, following its proposal to close the National Citizens Service (NCS), it would recycle the Scheme’s 2024-25 budget of £52.4 million back into youth provision.[20].

This scepticism was fed, too, by a new analysis by UK Youth. This had concluded that, compared with the £191.8 million spent by the Conservative government on youth programmes, ten months into power all that the Labour government was promising for ‘… more and better activities’ was £146.5 million, £79.4 million of which had by then been allocated through the Youth Investment Fund (YIF).[21] An evaluation of the Fund released three months later[22] revealed more specifically that already by June 2024 – that is, even before Labour came to power – this had allocated £246 million for capital projects in England and £27.5 million for revenue costs.

Wider funding promises

The June 2025 DCMS Youth Newsletter did, however, include three specific funding proposals:

>’Over £3 million to increase sector and workforce capacity’.

>To help them fulfil their statutory duty, ‘… support (for) local authorities in delivering youth services’ totalling £8.2 million.

>£107 million ‘to develop and improve youth centres’.

The Chancellor’s June 2025 Spending Review also promised to fund ‘… eight Youth Guarantee trailblazers’ – ‘a £45M pilot initiative across 8 UK regions designed to help 18–21-year-olds … secure jobs, apprenticeships, and training’; nine ‘inactivity trailblazers’; and £1.2 billion a year by 2028/29 ‘to get young people into training’.[23]

These commitments were welcomed by both Leigh Middleton and Jacob Diggle[24] with the latter concluding:

“… the government has listened to the sector, and recognised that unlocking young people’s potential means supporting the trusted adults and safe places around them. Whilst the funding won’t fill the huge gaps left by a decade of cuts, it is a welcome and much-needed step in the right direction. “

An ‘Adventures Away From Home Fund’

In July 2025 the DCMS also updated information on its ‘Adventures Away From Home Fund’ – published originally in September 2023. This promised £4.7 million to fund ‘bursaries for up to 27,600 disadvantaged and/or vulnerable young people (aged 11 to 18) and up to age 25 for … (SEND) young people to take part in outdoor learning activities’. This was further explained by UK Youth in September as intended to provide these groups with free outdoor learning experiences.[25]

A ‘Plan for Change’ – via a ‘Better Futures Fund’

Within days the government also launched a ‘Better Futures Fund’ – described as ‘the largest fund of its kind to support vulnerable kids and families’.[26] Its £500 million allocation aimed to ‘… break down barriers to opportunity for up to 200,000 vulnerable children and young people and deliver Plan for Change’. This was to be achieved by ‘boost(ing) pupil achievement’, ‘fund(ing) programmes to reduce reoffending or provid(ing) specialist workers for children struggling with exclusion, mental health or crime’. As explained later, the Fund delivery was to be located in community settings such as youth clubs and community centres.[27]

Investment in youth clubs – and more

In what was presented as ‘the latest step towards the government’s National Youth Strategy’, a press release dated 5 August 2025 quoted Keir Starmer as also promising a ‘major expansion of youth services … to re-connect young people with the world around them’.[28] This was summarised as an ‘£88 million investment to support youth clubs and schools to offer more after-school activities, enabling organisations like the Scouts and Guides to deliver more places in local communities’. Activities specifically identified were ‘… new climbing walls and outdoor adventures… (and) music lessons and volunteering’ – a ‘package (which) means that youth clubs and schools will now be able to offer more opportunities for young people to get active and connect with others’. Action was also promised on delivering an election manifesto commitment ‘to back young people growing up in a digital world…’ – all aimed at ‘a major new expansion of youth services and activities outside of school… to re-connect young people with their communities’.

A DCMS Youth Newsletter released at the same time as the Starmer statement[29] – followed up by later announcements – extended the information on the promised government funding and how it was to be allocated[30]:

>£22.5 million over three years to create ‘a tailored enrichment offer in up to 400 schools…’

>A Better Youth Spaces programme of £30.5 million – to enable smaller capital projects of between £5k and £100K to improve youth club infrastructure. These were to be located in 42 areas of England selected by the government on the basis of their level of ‘social deprivation’.[31]

>Backed up by the release of a GOV.UK ‘guidance’ paper, the ‘rollout’ of an £8 million ‘Local Youth Transformation pilot – to support councils to deliver a high-quality out-of-school offer.’ Led by the NYA, this was to be focused on 12 local authority areas across England with the highest ‘Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index’ levels. In collaboration with ‘consortium partners and young assessors’, it would assess current provision, identify gaps and co-develop a plan for long-term transformation. [32]

>Jointly with The National Lottery Community Fund, a third £19 million phase of the Million Hours Fund was to be used in areas with high rates of anti-social behaviour to open up ‘more places to go and positive things to do’ and deliver over a million additional hours of youth work.[33] .

>A £7.5 million Uniformed Youth Fund to provide ‘…thousands of new places in youth organisations like The Scouts, Guides and Volunteer Police Cadets in areas of unmet demand.’ In September 2025 an ‘Impact Evaluation’ report on the Fund published detailed findings on young people’s own assessments of how it had affected their ‘wellbeing’, ‘social and emotional development’, ‘skills and attainment’ and ‘community connectedness’. The report also revealed that, using the Fund’s money, uniformed organisations had by the end of 2024/2025 attracted over 13,000 young people, recruited 4,894 new adult volunteers and over the lifespan of the Fund trained 3,301 new leaders. By then the Fund had also been extended for further year.[34]

What however remained very much open to debate was how far these measures reaffirmed and reinstated open access youth work’s distinctive approaches to and face-to-face ways of working with young people – the main focus of the next post on this site.

References

[1] See ‘Towards a National Youth Strategy’,  2026, January, https://chilypep.org.uk/meet-the-team/bernard-davies/open-youth-work-matters-blog/

[2] GOV.UK, 2025, ‘Research and analysis: Barriers and enablers to participation in youth activities: executive summary’, 5 August, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/barriers-and-enablers-to-participation-in-youth-activities-research/barriers-and-enablers-to-participation-in-youth-activities-executive-summary

[3] Joanne Parkes, 2025, ‘’Youth service data revels ”worrying trends” on funding and waiting lists’, CYPN, 22 September

[4] Derren Hayes, 2024, ‘Latest figures highlight council youth services at a crossroad’, CYPN, 27 February

[5] NCVO, 2025, SPENDING REVIEW 2025: What it means for Charities’, 12 June

[6] ‘Britain’s charities should not be left struggling to do more with less’, Guardian, 1 January 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/31/the-guardian-view-on-hard-times-for-britains-charities-struggling-to-do-more-with-less

[7] Joe Lepper, 2025, ‘Council spending on youth services in England falls by 73% since 2010’, CYPN, 29 January

[8] Jessica Murray, 2026, ‘ Poorer areas I north west hit by cuts to youth services’, Guardian, 12 February; Joanne Parkes, 2026, ‘Nearly half of English councils have “youth work black holes”, national mapping reveals’, CYPN, 13 February

[9] Joanne Parkes, 2026, ‘Local authority youth services spending slumps further’, CYPN, 10 February

[10] Derren Hayes, 2024, Op Cit, 27 February

[11] Derren Hayes, 2024, Op Cit, 27 February

[12] Fiona Simpson, 2024, ‘Youth Services Act needed to boost access for young people, NYA says’, CYPN, 21 March

[13] Joanne Parkes, 2025, ‘Youth sector census points t sufficiency duty nd funding reforms’, CYPN, 13 October

[14] Derren Hayes, 2024, Op Cit, 27 February

[15] Ben Godfrey, 2024, ‘Fears for city’s youth as clubs face budget cuts’, BBC News, 11 March. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cndjyke0lz0o#:~:text=Youth%20workers%20in%20Birmingham%20have,feeling%20%E2%80%9Coverwhelmed%20and%20abandoned%E2%80%9D.

[16] GOV.UK, 2025, ‘’Policy Paper: Pride in Place Srategy’, 25 September, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pride-in-place-strategy

[17] Lily-Rose Morris-Zumin, 2026, ‘Government regeneration grant saves Kent youth centre’, CYPN, 6 January

[18] DCMS, 2025, ‘Youth Newsletter’, June, https://mailchi.mp/8576878e9ab9/national-youth-strategy-engagement-update-dcms-youth-newsletter-6752734?e=67af98bae6

[19] Derren Hayes, 2024, ‘Contrasting views over funding for the new National Youth Strategy’  CYPN, 1 December

[20] Joanne Parkes, 2024, ‘Divert National Citizens Service cash to youth services, council leaders urge’, CYPN, 29 November

[21] Jessica Murray, 2025, ‘Labour spending less on youth work that the Tories did, analysis finds’, Guardian. 15 May

[22] GOV.UK, 2025, Evaluation of the Youth Investment Fund Phase 2, 28 August, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-youth-investment-fund-phase-2-interim-report/evaluation-of-the-youth-investment-fund-phase-2-executive-summary

[23] Derren Hayes, 2025, ‘What the Spending Review means for children and families services’, CYPN, I July. See also for example: https://www.google.com/search?q=youth+guarantee+trailblazer+programme&rlz=1C1NHXL_enGB772GB772&oq=Youth+Guarantee+trailblazers&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCAgHEAAYFhgeMgcIABAAGIAEMgcIARAAGIAEMggIAhAAGBYYHjIICAMQABgWGB4yCAgEEAAYFhgeMggIBRAAGBYYHjIICAYQABgWGB4yCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB7SAQkxNTI4MmowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[24] NYA, 2025, ‘A welcome boost for grassroots youth work – now we need a National Youth Strategy to match’, 2 June, https://nya.org.uk/a-welcome-boost-for-grassroots/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAs%20we%20look%20ahead%20to,all%20young%20people%20can%20thrive ; ‘Derren Hayes, 2025, ‘Youth projects to benefit from £132mn of dormant assets funding’, CYPN, 3 June

[25] GOV.UK, 2025, ‘Adventures Away From Home Fund’, ‘8 July, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adventures-away-from-home-fund; Derren Hayes, 2025, ‘Adventures Away from Home Fund’, CYPN, 11 September

[26] GOV.UK, 2025, ‘The largest fund of its kind to support vulnerable kids and families’, 14 July, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/largest-fund-of-its-kind-to-support-vulnerable-kids-families

[27] Derren Hayes, 2025, ‘Funding Focus: The Building Brighter Futures programme’, CYPN, 8 October

[28] GOV.UK, 2025, ‘Prime Minister unveils new opportunities for young people to re-connect with their communities’, 5 August, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-unveils-new-opportunities-for-young-people-to-re-connect-with-their-communities; Joanne Parkes, 2025, ‘Prime Minister unveils £88 million investment in youth provision’, CYPN, 6 August

[29] DCMS, 2025, ‘Youth Newsletter’, August, https://mailchi.mp/d3ea525f52a2/dcms-youth-team-newsletter-august-2025?e=67af98bae6

[30] GOV.UK, 2025, ‘Prime Minister unveils new opportunities for young people to re-connect with their communities’, 5 August, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-unveils-new-opportunities-for-young-people-to-re-connect-with-their-communities; Joanne Parkes, 2025, ‘Prime Minister unveils £88 million investment in youth provision’, CYPN, 6 August

[31] GOV.UK, 2-25, ‘’Better Youth Spaces programme’, 5 August, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/better-youth-spaces-programme; Social Investment Business, 2025, ‘Better Youth Spaces’, downloaded 27 October 2025, https://www.sibgroup.org.uk/funds/better-youth-spaces/; DCMS, 2025, ‘ Youth Newsletter’, Email, October; Joanne Parkes, 2025, ‘Disadvantaged areas announced for youth club funding bids’, CYPN, 28 October

[32] GOV.UK, 2025, ‘The Local Youth Transformation Pilot’, 5 August, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-local-youth-transformation-pilot; Joanne Parkes, 2025, ‘Councils in deprived areas selected to pilot youth work scheme’, CYPN, 7 August

[33] DCMS, 2025, ‘ Youth Newsletter’, Email, October

[34]DCMS, 2025, ‘Youth Newsletter’, June, op cit; GOV.UK, 2025, ‘Uniformed Youth Fund evaluation reports: Impact evaluation’, 11 September, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uniformed-youth-fund-evaluation-reports-2022-to-2025/uniformed-youth-fund-evaluation-reports-impact-evaluation