Dear DCMS,
I am writing to ask why your press release on the National Youth Strategy doesn’t mention which nation the ‘National’ in ‘National Youth Strategy’ refers to.
There are four uses of the phrase ‘across the country’. Which country? Does it have a name?
Lisa Nandy’s statement to the House on the National Youth Strategy also failed to explain which nation it was relevant to.
Is this a strategy for the whole UK? For England? For England and Wales?
Could you please tell me which part/parts of the UK this statement was about and why that isn’t clearly stated by either the press release or the minister?
Many thanks,
Thank you for your correspondence of 28 November to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), regarding the National Youth Strategy. I am replying as a member of the Ministerial Support Team.
DCMS is responsible for the youth sector in England, as youth is a devolved policy. Youth is devolved for each of the 4 nations within the UK, so each of the 4 nations has powers and funding to set their own policies on youth. The National Youth Strategy that I announced to the House of Commons on the 12 November covers England only.
DCMS officials, however, regularly meet with their counterparts in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to collaborate, discuss policy and share learning. In some cases, DCMS works with the other UK nations on programmes that cover the whole of the UK, such as the UK Youth Parliament, however the majority of programmes DCMS run on youth are within England.
I hope this information is helpful.
Not really. This reply doesn’t explain the omission of the word ‘England’ from Lisa Nandy’s speeches and departmental announcements. At the 2024 Labour Conference, Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (a substantially devolved portfolio), managed to give a speech to conference without even mentioning England. She dropped the word ‘England’ from the title of Arts Council England. She also neglected to mention that the Football Governance Bill is for England, that Labour’s policy on youth hubs is a policy for England, or that it is England’s national curriculum she was referring to. She did not want to talk about England, she wanted to talk about Britain. Her speech contained 15 mentions of the/our country, 3 mentions of Britain and no mention of England, despite it being largely applicable to England. It is almost impossible to imagine a culture minister for Scotland or Wales (or any other nation, for that matter) failing to mention their nation’s name.
Why not call it the English Youth Strategy instead of the National Youth Strategy?
Surely a UK minister of state speaking in the UK Parliament should mention which country she is talking about (my bold):
In 2011, an estimated one in eight 10 to 15-year-olds had a probable mental health problem. Now, it is one in five. The world has changed and we need a youth strategy that reflects that. This is not a decision we take lightly. I have spoken to the chair and chief executive. I am so grateful to them for their commitment to work closely together to protect young people and staff, to share learnings and expertise, and to ensure there is an orderly transition from the end of the NCS programme to what comes next. I am delighted to announce that the current NCS chair, Harris Bokhari, will be an adviser on the national youth strategy. His experience will be invaluable as we step into a new way of working together with the country’s young people. As part of this, I would also like to thank the NCS youth advisory board. I hope it will play a major role in our strategy. It is committed, as we are, to building a country of connected, confident and caring young citizens.
It is one in five young people in England that had a probable mental health disorder. The ‘national’ youth strategy is England’s youth strategy. Harris Bokhari’s experience will be invaluable as we step into a new way of working together with England’s young people. It is committed, as we are, to building an England of connected, confident and caring young citizens.
English Commonwealth 