Prime Minister announces £88million investment to get young people involved in music, arts and more

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a major expansion of youth services and real-world opportunities for young people in the UK, encouraging them to get involved in music, arts and more.

• READ MORE: UK grassroots venues suffering from “the complete collapse of touring” – here’s how you can help

The action comes as part of the Plan For Change, and aligns with the government’s promise to give young people growing up in a digital world the opportunity to build essential skills for life and work.

As part of the move, £88million will be invested in youth clubs and schools to provide more after-school activities. These encourage young people to spend less time behind a screen and reconnect with their communities by joining various clubs.

These include better access to music clubs and lessons to learn an instrument, as well as numerous sports clubs, dance classes, rock climbing activities, arts classes and more.

The government shared that the decision was made after noticing that there had been a decade-long decline in investment for youth clubs of over 70 per cent. It also aligns with the move to extend voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds, and the £500million Better Futures Fund to protect young people from online harms.

“Growing up today is hard for young people. As they navigate their way through the online world, too often they find themselves isolated at home and disconnected from their communities,” said PM Starmer.

“As a government, we have a duty to act on this worrying trend. Today’s investment is about offering a better alternative: transformative, real-world opportunities that will have an impact in communities across the country, so young people can discover something new, find their spark and develop the confidence and life skills that no algorithm can teach.

“Through our Plan for Change, we’re backing parents by not only protecting our young people online, but giving them the support and opportunities they deserve so no child falls through the cracks.”

The Building Creative Futures package promises £22.5million invested across three years to offer extra-curricular activities in up to 400 schools, a £30.5million fund to the Better Youth Spaces programme – which improve youth club infrastructure in areas with the highest levels of child poverty – and an £8million Local Youth Transformation pilot, which provides the tools, guidance and funding, to improve local youth offers.

A third phase of the Million Hours Fund will be rolled out too – which works with The National Lottery Community Fund to deliver more youth work in areas with high rates of anti-social behaviour – as well as £7.5million for the Uniformed Youth Fund, creating thousands of new places in youth organisations like The Scouts, Guides and Volunteer Police Cadets.

“We know that strong local youth services are the bedrock of thriving communities that give our young people safe spaces to learn, grow and reach their potential,” said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

“Today’s announcement is just the beginning. As we develop our National Youth Strategy ahead of its launch this autumn, we are already delivering on our Plan for Change by putting young people at the heart of our mission-led government, ensuring they have the support and opportunities they deserve so that no one is left behind.”

The push for more government intervention gained momentum at the start of the year, when Ed Sheeran launched a new foundation to support music education in the UK, stressing how important it was to his early career. He then wrote an open letter to the UK government calling for Starmer to commit £250million towards music education, which was signed by the likes of Elton John, Coldplay, Central Cee, Harry Styles, Dave, Stormzy and Robert Plant.

Just last month, Sheeran made another push by selling a new series of original works titled ‘Cosmic Carpark Paintings’ that raised funds for his foundation.

The government recently confirmed it would be lowering the voting age in the UK to 16, and it is set to be enforced in time for the next time the country goes to the polls – expected by summer 2029 at the latest.

It will mark the largest change to the electorate since the minimum voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1969, and makes the UK one of a handful of places where the voting age is lower than 18; joining Austria, Brazil, the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Cuba.

The new emphasis on getting young people into the arts comes as the UK has been facing countless hardships in the live music scene over recent years. 2023, for instance, proved to be “disastrous” and the worst year on record, with 125 grassroots music venues shutting their doors. At the beginning of the year, it was also reported that 70.6 per cent of independent UK acts have never toured, while 84 per cent of unsigned artists simply can’t afford to.

In May, Wolf Alice‘s Joff Oddie joined industry leaders at a government hearing and insisted that not enough progress was being made in saving venues and new artists.

The Royal Albert Hall in London recently became the first arena to commit to the £1 LIVE ticket levy to help support grassroots venues, which sees £1 from every ticket sold invested back into the UK’s live music scene and helps smaller venues keep their doors open.

Huge names who have been supportive of a £1 ticket levy include Coldplay, Sam Fender and Katy Perry – who have all vowed to donate a portion of their tour revenues to support the grassroots sector. In the spring, it was reported that UK tour ticket contributions have raised £500,000 for grassroots music venues thanks to artists like Pulp and Mumford & Sons.

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