A vision for the next decade, the Strategy aims to build a future where all young people have the skills, opportunities and connections to thrive, driven by three shifts across government: 

• From national to local – aiming to make decisions and delivery as close to communities as possible
• From fragmented to collaborative – building government around and with young people, with improved cross-government working
• From excluded to empowered – putting young people in the driving seat through greater co-production and youth engagement 

To deliver these ambitions, the strategy includes a number of new and existing commitments including: 

Ensuring young people can participate fully in high-quality sport and physical activity 

Providing more places to go

• Spending £400m on new and upgraded grassroots community sports facilities, increasing access to outdoor spaces and expanding the Better Youth Spaces programme on existing and new youth facilities
• Making better use of underutilised spaces, including school spaces outside school time
• Giving everyone access to a green or blue space within walking distance from home
• Using the Every Child Can Fund to increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities, including sport 

Improving young people’s connectivity 

Empowering youth voice 

Ahead of the development and publication of the new strategy, DCMS commissioned a report to give a direct insight into the lives of young people in England. Informed by more than 14,000 responses, the Youth Matters: State of the Nation report identifies four priority areas to inform the Strategy: 

• Community, connection and belonging
• Physical, mental and digital wellbeing
• Skills and opportunities for life and work
• Safety and security 

Commenting on the new Strategy, Youth Sport Trust CEO Ali Oliver MBE said: 

“As the new National Youth Strategy correctly identifies, this generation of young people is the most technologically connected, yet the most socially and emotionally isolated in history. Faced with challenges to their mental health, increasing loneliness and unhappy about access to activities and services in their local area, a generation’s call for change must be heeded. We are pleased to see the role sport and play can have in building brighter futures is reflected across the new Strategy. 

“We know how important physical activity including PE, sport and play is for improving wellbeing, developing skills, providing connections and boosting life chances. The forthcoming PE and School Sport Partnerships Network, aligned to the new Enrichment Framework and changes to the PE curriculum, should give every child greater opportunity and better outcomes. With the latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey data showing more than half of all children are still inactive, schools are best placed to reach every child, and we are excited by the potential of the new Network to provide day-to-day support to schools and long-term development of capacity, capability and community partnerships.  

“Throughout the Strategy, there is rightly a focus on inequality and we welcome the ambition to remove barriers and enable participation from those at the greatest risk of missing out including girls, children with special educational needs and disabilities, or from the most disadvantaged families. 

“It is no surprise to see young people identified challenges around access to facilities. Increased investment to build new and existing facilities for young people is welcome news, and can provide access to sport and play, as well as in-person opportunities as an antidote to the toxicity of the online world. The Strategy identifies the importance of making better use of underutilised spaces including at school outside the school day, which is vital where access to community facilities is lower. We support this ambition and encourage the protection of spaces which enable sport and physical activity, as changes to the planning system are debated. With so much progress remaining to be made to increase young people’s physical activity levels, taking steps which could increase their disposal would be misguided. 

“However, as well as changing the system we need to change our national culture to fully reflect the importance of being active. At present, as our research shows only 34% of teachers and 32% of parents are aware children should be active for 60 minutes a day, as recommended by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers. For many years, we have called for a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of physical activity. We are therefore delighted the Strategy commits to a new public-facing campaign and we stand ready to offer our support. 

“Many of the challenges identified within the Strategy and accompanying State of the Nation report reflect the impact of an age of isolation, including on education, and we are therefore supportive of plans for a new framework to improve pupil’s experience and sense of belonging in school. Allied to this, it is positive to see the Strategy identify the power of sport to provide access to trusted adults and deliver programmes which can boost wellbeing, tackle loneliness and build positive relationships. With the world’s eyes on Australia as their ban on social media for under-16s kicks in, we know many in the UK share our concern about the impact of digital dominance on a generation’s wellbeing and life chances. Providing access to opportunities through sport delivering meaningful connections can help reach those young people at greatest risk of isolation and pull them back from the negative experiences many young people shared in informing the Strategy’s development. 

“Finally, we are delighted to see the Strategy’s ongoing commitment to youth voice. As a youth-led charity, creating a Youth Policy Network to advise on government decisions affecting young people is music to our ears, as is the commitment to making co-design with young people the norm across youth programmes. The State of the Nation report encapsulates how young people experience life in 2025 and their insights and leadership in producing the new Strategy have ensured it is ambitious, responsive and captures the potential we have to deliver change, including through sport. We commend all the young people whose insights have informed these plans and it is our duty to play our role in delivering on their vision for a generation who deserve a better today and brighter tomorrow.”