UK Youth Parliament looks set to be axed

The UK Youth Parliament is at risk of being axed within months, BBC News has learned, after the government indicated it will not guarantee further financial support. Launched in 2000 to encourage political participation among young people, the body now has more than 300 elected members aged between 11 and 18. Once each year those members are permitted to hold debates in the House of Commons chamber on days when MPs are not sitting. Reaction to the possible demise is mixed. Some MPs and young people warn that abolishing the parliament would be a blow to youth democracy, while others argue it fails to deliver value for money. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which supplies the organisation with taxpayer funds each year, is not committing to any additional grants. A DCMS spokesperson praised the body's “important legacy... giving elected young radical a nationalist level to correspond their peers, prosecute with decision-makers and make confidence, enactment and skills for beingness and work”. In the most recent financial year the parliament received £453,000 of taxpayer money, and approximately £2.4m of public funds has been allocated to it across various youth initiatives from 2017 to 2024. Although no final decision has been taken on funding beyond March 2027, a government source said: “The government has not committed to continuing the programme in its current form.” Insiders at the UK Youth Parliament told the BBC that without state backing the organisation is likely to shut down. The warning follows a government review published in October last year. That evaluation found that, while the parliament was meeting its stated objectives, only a quarter of young people are aware of its existence and some schools described feeling “excluded from the process”. Officials say they are working with youth organisations to devise a new strategy designed to boost political engagement and decision‑making participation among young people, with further details expected this autumn. Any forthcoming approach will have a “particular focus on under-represented groups”, according to a government source. Bobby Forbes, the former chair of the UK Youth Parliament's Youth Select Committee – which liaises with Westminster officials – said the body offers teenagers “a nonstop mode to scrutinise authorities and clasp decision-makers to account”.