Committee publication · Correspondence · 11 December 2025
Letter from Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, regarding the National Youth Strategy, 8 December 2025
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: The work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Summary
Secretary of State Lisa Nandy notifies the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the imminent launch of 'Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy' on 10 December 2025. The 10-year cross-government plan targets young people aged 10–21 (up to 25 for those with SEND), developed from consultation with over 14,000 young people and 200 officials. It prioritises 10 actions spanning trusted adults, workforce support, physical and mental wellbeing, employment, safety, and youth empowerment, with interim accountability reporting in 2027.
Key findings
- Strategy developed following consultation with over 14,000 young people and close to 200 officials from over 10 departments, identifying 4 key themes: community and belonging, physical/mental/digital wellbeing, skills and opportunities, and safety and security.
- 10 priority actions include establishing trusted adults and Young Futures Hubs, DCMS funding for youth workers and enrichment in up to 400 schools, rolling out mental health support teams in schools and colleges to full national coverage by end of 2029, and lowering voting age to 16.
- Plans to build and renovate youth centres with new DCMS funding, restore neighbourhood policing, provide mandatory bus staff training for youth safety, and establish employment Youth Hubs to deliver Youth Guarantee.
- Strategy applies primarily to England given devolved youth policy; small number of UK-wide policies included. Accountability through shared cross-government metrics framework with interim delivery report in 2027.
- Secretary of State frames strategy as response to generation whose 'challenges have gone unheard and unaddressed' and emphasises radical new approach 'led by young people'.
Tone
SupportiveTopics
Key actors
Lisa Nandy MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Ofcom, Sport England, Local Authorities
Notable line
“For too long the challenges facing this generation have gone unheard and unaddressed.”
Key Quotes
“'Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy' is a 10 year plan to ensure every young person across the country has somewhere to go, something to do, and someone who cares for them.”
“For too long the challenges facing this generation have gone unheard and unaddressed. There is no single quick fix to these problems, but by acting now and taking a radical new approach, led by young people, we can turn this around.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗