- Labour announces biggest investment in youth work in a generation, with 1000 youth workers to be recruited to help find forgotten children
- Investment is key milestone in Labour’s National Youth Strategy, Youth Matters, co-produced with 14,000 young people and backed by over £500 million
- Portsmouth to benefit from Youth Matters, with new youth workers embedded in local communities across the country
Stephen Morgan MP has welcomed news that 1000 new youth workers will be deployed into towns and cities across England to find the young people who need support outside of home and school, before they reach crisis point.
These youth workers, who will be placed in local authorities across the country and will help locate young people who are not accessing youth services and work with them to give them something to do, somewhere to go, and someone who cares.
Under the Tories, around 4,500 youth worker jobs were lost, and local authority spending on youth services fell by 73%. These cuts led to millions of young people being left behind, with research suggesting knock-on impacts to welfare and criminal justice spend.
The Government has restated its commitment to rebuilding youth work, with this investment forming part of the government’s £500m Youth Strategy, which will see youth centres rebuilt, and young people drive how money is spent in their local areas.
Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, welcomed the announcement:
“This Labour government was elected on a promise to rebuild youth services, and it is delivering. Under the Tories, youth services were decimated, robbing millions of young people of opportunity.
“This investment is the next step in righting that wrong, and I look forward to working with the Culture Secretary to make sure this investment delivers for young people across Portsmouth. Every young person deserves someone who cares, something to do, and somewhere to go.”
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy said:
“For the majority of young people, there are no youth workers to support them, no physical spaces to enrich their lives, and nothing for them to do that matches what the online world offers. It is no wonder that they retreat to their screens in their rooms, they feel like they’ve been forgotten.
“That’s why this programme is vital, rebuilding around a quarter of the youth workforce which was cut by the Tories, and it is just the start.
“We want no young person left behind and no young person written off, ending the violent indifference that they’ve faced for too long. This is a Labour government in action, wrapping its arms around the next generation and giving them the chance to thrive.”
