Youth Hubs

Question

I recently met with James Boyle, who runs Longwood FC, a grassroots football club for young people in my constituency. Longwood FC has had a really positive impact on the mental health and physical wellbeing of the young people involved, and is a great example of community-led youth engagement. I commend the Government for their investment in such youth engagement through youth hubs across the country. Can the Minister confirm the timetable for the roll-out of youth hubs in my constituency?

Question

Will the Minister join me in recognising the work of the Big Onion, which provides skills training, employment support and related services in my Southport constituency? It has supported more than 1,400 young people into careers across the wider borough. Will the Minister also set out what further support the Department can give to community organisations like that, and how its success can be shared across the whole youth hub programme?

Question

The expansion of Department for Work and Pensions youth hubs and the roll-out of Young Futures hubs are a testament to the Government’s commitment to stand alongside young people and support them to succeed. The Centre for Young Lives has called for Government Departments to work jointly to ensure clear alignment across those hubs to prevent duplication and to stop young people falling through the gaps. What steps will the Government take to ensure that Young Futures hubs and DWP services share information effectively, align their programmes and provide seamless pathways to improve outcomes for young people?

Question

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hosting a roundtable with the Jack Petchey Foundation, where young people from London and Essex spoke powerfully about the barriers they face, including feeling that there are fewer opportunities for them. What steps is my right hon. Friend’s Department taking to deliver on the Government’s targets for two thirds of young people to be in university or an apprenticeship, so that young people can gain the skills they need to achieve their goals?

Question

May I encourage the brilliant team at Kendal jobcentre who already do a fantastic job reaching out to young people across Westmorland and Lonsdale? Will he bear in mind that communities like mine have enormous travel distances, necessitating youth hubs outside main towns such as Kendal and Penrith, including locations like Kirkby Stephen, Appleby, Grange and Windermere. Will he also pay attention to the poor bus services in rural areas impacting young people’s ability to reach appointments?

Question

It strikes me as odd that rather than extolling virtues of the Government's flagship youth guarantee, we have had Labour MPs asking about youth hubs. Is this because it is easier to defend setting up some youth hubs than feeding back on the roll-out of the youth guarantee? Since the Labour Government came into power, businesses stopped hiring young people in roles where they could be paying someone more experienced the same amount of money, resulting in a 103,000 increase in unemployed young people since July 2024. Does the Secretary of State agree that rather than Back Bench-pleasing schemes tinkering around the edges of youth unemployment crisis, we need a strong economy with businesses actively seeking to employ hundreds of thousands of talented yet unemployed young people across the country?