A National Youth Strategy is very welcome news
Yesterday, the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced that the government would create a new National Youth Strategy to break down barriers to opportunity for young people.
Her statement mattered but it came as no surprise. The life chances of young people are crucially important for the nation and the government’s strategy will bring both funding and focus. Improving those life chances is vital to success in the Government delivering on its mission to break down barriers to opportunity, but I also know that it has long been a personal mission for this particular Secretary of State.
When I started writing my book Raising the Nation, Lisa Nandy’s encouragement, insights, and vision helped shape my own ideas. When it was published, she kindly offered a quote for the book itself. Fast forward to yesterday and her announcement of a new National Youth Strategy showed just how determined Lisa is to see her own vision for youth services through.
Her department will initially provide £185m for youth provision and, just as importantly, a fresh approach to make sure youth services are well coordinated, that decisions about how they work are made in communities, AND with the voices of children and young people foursquare centre to their design and delivery.
It’s certainly time for a change. Too much of the work that’s done to support our children and young people has been neglected for too long. Take funding for youth workers, for example, which fell by 73% under the previous government. Resources, training and career opportunities for young people have been squeezed as well. This government’s new strategy, when complete, should provide new life chances and choices to our young people.
The process of creating that strategy will also allow time for more deep thinking and listening to experts who know how to make a real difference to young people, including those with the current lived experience of the realities of youth: young people themselves! My whole focus in writing Raising the Nation was to present a case for ensuring all our children and young people have thriving younger years and grow up to each be the person they have the potential to be. My book identified that our youth thrive best when their voice is heard, listened to, and acted upon. On the back of it’s publication, I established the Raising the Nation Play Commission with Anne Longfield and her Centre for Young Lives to hear those voices and contribute to the work of understanding how we can best support young people; with its specific focus on ensuring there is sufficient opportunity for them to thrive through play.
And the evidence we have received has already made it clear. To create a better society for our children, one that champions play, funds youth centres, creates career opportunities, and supports young people in countless other areas, we need direct attention from the very top: a dedicated and unified strategy that puts our children and their futures first. The Secretary of State’s announcement yesterday could be a seminal moment in evolving our society to one in which every child and young person can thrive.
Lisa, I cannot wait to see you deliver the shot in the arm of society we know holds the key to a better future.