Michael Gove has confirmed the government stance that local authorities are best placed to make decisions about funding but has said the Department will continue to champion young people, in a letter responding to youth sector concerns.
Gove had previously said in an Education Select Committee meeting that "youth policy is primarily a matter for local government" sparking concern in the youth sector that policy was being consigned to "the inconsistencies that often arise as a consequence of local decision making". Leaders of a number of the largest youth bodies wrote to the Secretary of State for Education to seek clarification of his statement, followed by a further letter representing over 8 million young people which said:
"As young people who attend, work or volunteer with local youth projects across the UK, we are writing in response to the comments that you made in your evidence to the Education Select Committee...This is alarming for all of us, as not only could it put our futures at risk, but also those of younger generations.
"To support our letter, we conducted a survey asking young people their views: 92 per cent of young people feel that the government doesn’t do enough to show they care about young people in the UK and their futures. 95 per cent of young people also think that youth policy should be a key priority for national government, much like health, policing, and other areas that government deals with."
In Gove's letter, published yesterday on the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services website, the Secretary reeled off a number of initiatives the government has undertaken to improve the situation for young people, including the National Citizen Service and the Myplace Centre building programme, then said:
"But I am also very clear that local authorities know the needs of young people and their communities much better than central government. Decisions about the prioritisation of funding and the provision of services for young people are best made at the local level, taking account of the local context.
"Our role from the centre is to give local authorities the freedom and flexibility to make the most effective decisions, by providing them with un-ringfenced funding and removing unnecessary bureaucracy.
"It is for this reason that I said to the Select Committee that 'youth policy is primarily a matter for local government' and it is why I do not believe that 'discrete' youth policy should be a top priority for my department," he said, adding however that young people, alongside children "do take centre stage in my Department's policies and I will continue to champion their cause across government".
NCVYS advise that their understanding of the term 'discrete' applies to policies which are solely for young people, rather than policies which are more widely reaching in education or including children.
Susanne Rauprich, chief executive of NCVYS, said of Gove's response:
“We are pleased to be assured that young people take centre stage in DfE policies, as well as others promoted by central government. However, as recent data shows, this commitment without more explicit guidance is not sufficient to ensure that local funding decisions match the needs of young people in the way the Secretary of State hopes. We will continue to lobby for a much more engaged policy focus to be maintained centrally.
"NCVYS is committed to working with both government and our members to review current policy and to champion young people’s priorities."
