Guidance

Terms of Reference for Thematic VfM Review on Youth

Published 20 January 2026

1. Background

A significant proportion of government spending on out-of-classroom youth provision is provided by central government. Currently over £1 billion of government spending on out-of-classroom youth provision sits across several central government departments and local government budgets, leading to a fragmented delivery model.

In 2025, DCMS conducted an internal cross-government review of government spending on out-of-classroom youth provision to identify any overlaps, opportunities for improving delivery, and provide recommendations ahead of Spending Review 2025 and to inform conversations about the cross-government National Youth Strategy (NYS).

The NYS sets a new shared direction for young people and a clear plan to achieve this over the next Spending Review. As part of this, we need to better align government funding behind the shared aims of the NYS such as equipping young people to enter employment, to ensure its successful delivery, building on the important contributions already made by every department.

It is important to consider what the best system of delivery is, in the long-term, to achieve the ambitions set out in the Strategy, and how to get the best value for money for youth spending across departmental silos. The Strategy focuses on this government’s priorities for young people and supports the delivery of the Plan for Change, spreading opportunities for enrichment, employment in the context of AI technology changing the economy, making our streets safer, taking pressure off health services and supporting jobs and growth.

2. Objectives

The review aims to assess the government’s approach to out-of-classroom youth provision, addressing the fragmentation and potential inefficiencies in current spend. It should ensure that investment delivers maximum impact for young people under the ambitions of the National Youth Strategy and Government Missions.

The VfM review will:

• update existing mapping of out-of-classroom youth spending (including local government expenditure where possible), assessing programmes for duplication and effectiveness, considering whether spending could be more effectively targeted to deliver the objectives of the NYS. It should also consider any updated thinking on what the best model is for delivering youth funding, including whether youth funding should be grouped into one or multiple departments and;
• consider whether youth funding could be further devolved to local government (e.g. through the Local Government Funding Settlement), with the right structure and accountability systems in place to maximise impact for the government’s priorities and missions, while also being mindful of the existing financial pressures faced by councils.
• consider where we can further encourage more preventative approaches to maximise impact and create downstream savings.
• produce policy and implementation recommendations, building on the options previously explored, to improve efficiency, accountability, and maximise value for money to inform the next Spending Review in 2027.

3. Scope

The review will cover all activity and expenditure related to out-of-classroom youth spend aimed at 10 - 21-year-olds, (up to 25 for those with special and educational needs and disabilities), running between 2026-27 and 2028-29. Activity and expenditure related to the core curriculum and formal education and training, including schools’ and colleges’ core budgets is excluded.

The review will focus primarily on spend by the following departments:  DCMS, HMT, DfE, HO, MoJ, MoD, DWP, MHCLG, DHSC, DfT, and DSIT.

The review will make further recommendations on how to implement any changes from 2028/29 onwards, in line with the next Spending Review. Decisions will be made through the normal Spending Review processes.

4. Governance

The review will report to the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Ministers of all participating Departments will meet at least three times.

• At the beginning of the review to start the work, reflect on previous work, agree on the objectives and discuss the risks and potential misalignments up front.
• Part-way through the review to discuss progress and emerging findings of the review,
• At the end to sign off the final conclusions and recommendations from the review.

A senior official steering group, with representatives from relevant departments, will oversee policy development and the recommendations to ministers. This study will be resourced by officials from DCMS, HMT, DfE, HO, MoJ, MoD, DWP, MHCLG, DHSC, DfT, and DSIT, supported by a virtual team drawing resources from all those departments involved.

The steering group should consider whether external expertise e.g. from local delivery partners and academics can be utilised to ensure a comprehensive assessment of the questions in scope of the review.

5. Timetable

There will be two phases of the review. In the first phase, departments will map existing spending across government and identify any duplicative or low vfm spend. Phase 2 will include an assessment of the best model to deliver the different groups of spending, building on the previous Spending Review work, and ways to implement relevant changes to ensure successful delivery under this new model, such as further devolution to local government. We will look at the full range of options and levers needed to implement those changes, including legislative measures where relevant.

The final output will be a set of recommendations for consideration at Spending Review 2027.