DCMS Youth Team
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-01)

Information about the DCMS Youth Team and its policy work.

What we do

The Youth Team in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has responsibility for policies and funding for youth services for people aged 10 to 21. These provide young people with spaces for ‘non-formal’ learning (like youth clubs and activities outside of school) with the aim of improving young people’s mental and physical wellbeing and their skills for life and work.

Our team help ministers to set the government’s strategy for young people, making sure that:
- youth funding is spent in the places that need it most (funding activities that young people want)
- we steward the youth sector, making it as easy as possible for communities and other organisations to connect and support young people
Youth policy is cross-cutting because it links to many other teams and departments: for example, it is also about sports, culture, school enrichment, employability, health and wellbeing, crime reduction and many other policy areas. We work closely across government and make the case for youth services across governmental priorities.

The National Youth Strategy

The government is creating a new ten year National Youth Strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-national-youth-strategy-to-break-down-barriers-to-opportunity-for-young-people) to tackle the challenges for this generation of young people and ensure that every young person can thrive.

The Strategy will be co-produced with young people and cross-sector experts, putting young people at the centre of decision-making on policies that affect them. It will bring power back to young people and their communities and improve youth focused services, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach from the government.

Press release: Government partners with young people to help develop new national youth strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-partners-with-young-people-to-help-develop-new-national-youth-strategy)

Oral statement: National Youth Strategy (https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-11-12/debates/9C910B3D-846D-4972-8021-2B09826C24A4/NationalYouthStrategy)

Co-production of the Strategy with young people and experts

To make sure the Strategy reflects the hopes, challenges and vision of young people across the country, the government conducted a widescale survey and a series of other engagement activities. Young people were able to have their say and propose solutions to the most pressing issues they are facing at a number of workshops and focus groups across the country.

‘Deliver You’ communications campaign

Deliver You (http://www.iwill.org.uk/NYS-Deliver-You/) is a national campaign across England, seeking views directly from young people to inform the National Youth Strategy. The campaign, co-produced with young people, is an ambitious and exciting opportunity for young people to share their views, experiences, and ideas- and to tell the government what really matters to them.

The campaign is inspired by online food delivery services and focuses on encouraging young people to ‘Place their order’ with the government. Young people will also have the chance to take part in one of 6 regional in-person events, to start to shape the solutions.

In collaboration with DCMS, the Deliver You campaign is powered by the #iWill Movement (https://www.iwill.org.uk/), My Life My Say (https://www.mylifemysay.org.uk/) and Savanta (https://savanta.com/)- a partnership driven by a commitment to equipping and enabling young people to shape and lead change.

The government, specifically DCMS, wants to reach as many young people as possible and engage young people with a range of lived experiences. The aim is to encourage young people to share their views through the survey, take part in other activities happening online or in their areas, and to be involved in the evolution of the Strategy. This is to ensure that the Strategy becomes more than just a document, something that young people believe in and support.

Expert partners leading engagement and research

DCMS has commissioned an expert consortium of organisations consisting of:
- market research consultancy Savanta (https://savanta.com/)
- key leader in youth-led engagement in the UK, My Life My Say (MLMS) (https://www.mylifemysay.org.uk/); and
- the #iwill Movement (https://www.iwill.org.uk/), a social movement supporting Youth Social Action with coordination from leading youth work charity, UK Youth and volunteering network, Volunteering Matters
They will be working with 10 Youth Collaborators, young people recruited to ensure all activities are genuinely co-produced.

Advisory groups

To help ensure that youth voice runs throughout the process of developing the Strategy, the government has appointed 13 young people to form a Youth Advisory Group (YAG). Members have a variety of lived and professional experience across key areas including advocacy, violence prevention, social mobility and mental health. The group will guide the government on how to effectively engage with young people and create a strategy that truly resonates with them.

An Expert Advisory Group (EAG) made up of advisors with a range of different professional expertise related to young people will sit alongside the YAG to help guide the national conversation with young people, providing expertise and challenging thinking throughout the Strategy development.

Read about the members of the Youth and Expert Advisory Groups. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-youth-team/youth-and-expert-advisory-groups)