Sir Keir Starmer has announced an £88 million package for youth clubs and schools as he warned children are "too often isolated at home" facing the challenges of the online world. The Prime Minister said the funding aims to deliver services like new climbing walls and music lessons to combat the "worrying" trend of young people becoming "detached from the real world".
Groups like the Scouts and Guides will receive £7.5 million to help offer more places in local communities. A further £30.5 million will go towards improving youth club infrastructure in areas with the highest levels of child poverty.
Schools receive major funding boost
Some £22.5 million over three years will fund access in 400 schools across the country to extra-curricular activities such as sport, art and music, outdoor activities, debating or volunteering. The expansion forms part of wider Government efforts to "reconnect young people with the world around them" amid concerns children are spending increasing amounts of time online or in their bedrooms, Number 10 said.
Announcing the package, Starmer said: "Growing up today is hard for young people. As they navigate their way through the online world, too often they find themselves isolated at home and disconnected from their communities."
Government targets digital isolation
The Prime Minister added: "As a Government, we have a duty to act on this worrying trend. Today's investment is about offering a better alternative: transformative, real-world opportunities that will have an impact in communities across the country, so young people can discover something new, find their spark and develop the confidence and life skills that no algorithm can teach."
Downing Street said "young people today are spending more and more of their time detached from the real world, either stuck in their bedrooms or behind a screen, throwing up huge challenges for them and their loved ones to overcome". Starmer said the plans were part of wider efforts aimed at opening up opportunities to ensure "no child falls through the cracks" ahead of the publication of the Government's national youth strategy this autumn.
Youth strategy development underway
Young people have been encouraged to contribute to development of the strategy in recent months through focus groups and surveys. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said local youth services were the "bedrock of thriving communities" and that "today's announcement is just the beginning" ahead of its launch in the autumn.
She said the Government was "putting young people at the heart of our mission-led government ensuring they have the support and opportunities they deserve so that no one is left behind". The Duke of Edinburgh's Award charity welcomed the funding package but urged ministers to go further in guaranteeing "enrichment opportunities" for every young person.
Charity calls for youth guarantee
Chief operating officer at the charity, John Egan, said: "This multimillion-pound investment is about so much more than creating new opportunities for art, music and outdoor activities - it's an investment in the resilience, confidence and future of young people. As a leading youth charity, we now urge the Government to go further and commit to a youth guarantee, to ensure that every young person has access to the enrichment opportunities that they need to thrive which can't always be found in the classroom."
Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston (Conservative) said: "After scrapping the National Citizen Service which gave over a million young people valuable opportunities, any investment in youth services is welcome. However, young people need more than just skills - they need a growing economy that can offer jobs and opportunities in the future."
Opposition criticises economic record
Huddleston added: "Because of Labour's economic mismanagement and tax rises businesses are closing, there are no jobs, and the economy is shrinking while inflation has doubled. Under Labour, the future of the next generation looks bleak."
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
