What Government Silence Means for Our Youth Services

Inspired by insights from UK Youth’s article: Warm Words, Cold Cuts

At LMP Action, we believe every young person deserves access to safe, engaging spaces where they can grow, learn, and feel supported. Whether it’s our Alternative Provision, Action Academy masterclasses, or borough-wide holiday programmes, our work centres around a simple mission: to provide alternative pathways and transformative futures.

That’s why the silence in the Government’s most recent Budget is so alarming.

As highlighted by UK Youth in their recent article, “Warm Words, Cold Cuts,” the Government failed to make any mention of young people or youth services in the Spring Budget. This comes at a time when demand for youth support is increasing, and the sector is still recovering from years of cuts. According to UK Youth, “since 2010, local authority spending on youth services has fallen by 77%,” despite growing challenges facing young people and families.

These cuts aren’t abstract numbers. They have real consequences.

Without proper investment, it becomes harder for organisations like ours to deliver the consistency and quality that young people need. At LMP Action, we see firsthand how vital early intervention, mentoring, emotional support, and creative opportunities are. For young people at risk of exclusion, experiencing mental health challenges, or simply needing somewhere to belong, youth services provide a lifeline.

Take our work in Hammersmith and Fulham, where we support hundreds of young people each term through afterschool hubs, mentoring programmes, and structured holiday activities. Or our Alternative Provision sites, which help young people reengage with education in a nurturing, trauma-informed setting. These services are not luxuries. They are essential.

UK Youth is calling for three urgent actions:

• A long-term funding commitment for youth work
• Clear recognition of youth work’s impact in Government decision making
• A National Youth Strategy that treats youth services as core social infrastructure

We stand firmly behind these calls.

LMP Action is proud to be part of a sector that changes lives every day. But passion alone cannot sustain the services our young people rely on. We need support. We need funding. And we need policy decisions that match the warm words so often spoken about young people with real investment in their futures.

As UK Youth rightly puts it: “You cannot claim to support young people, while failing to fund the very services that help them thrive.”

We will continue to advocate, deliver, and fight for the futures of the young people we serve. But we cannot do it alone.

To read UK Youth’s full article, visit: Warm Words, Cold Cuts

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