The National Policy Contexts

An NYA paper published in 2020 concluded that ‘there is currently no explicit statement for what the English Government intends youth work to achieve’. Over the period covered by this book, this gap was partially filled by a review of its statutory guidance to local authorities; its ‘… ambitious, long-term £500 million (Youth Investment Fund) plan …’ often linked to its ‘levelling-up agenda’; and a DCMS-led ‘Youth Review’. The latter brought responses from young people, academics and the DCMS itself and generated the announcement of a National Youth Guarantee. At no point, however, did the government commit itself to fully and systematically reinstating the open youth work facilities lost after 2010.