In March 2026, the Government announced £453,000 of funding for the UK Youth Parliament for 2026/27, to be delivered by the National Youth Agency. No decision has been made about the future of UKYP beyond March 2027.

We recognise the importance of providing clarity for Members of the Youth Parliament, including those in Northern Ireland. No specific assessment has been undertaken of the potential impact of funding uncertainty on Members of Youth Parliament in Northern Ireland.

The Government is committed to strengthening young people’s participation in democratic processes and decision-making. We are currently considering how best to deliver our ambitions for youth empowerment, informed by engagement with young people and youth organisations, including Members of Youth Parliament. We will continue to engage with colleagues in the devolved administrations on our respective approaches to youth empowerment and will share learning as this work progresses.

On 16th September the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, announced 26 new local authorities in England who are participating in the Young Futures Hubs and Transformation programme, alongside the 8 Early Adopters. Funding available is published on gov.uk and set out below:

• up to £100k for each Local Authority to undertake planning and co-creation activities.

• up to £300k per annum, until March 2029, for each Young Futures Hub to operate; and

• up to £125k of capital funding for each Young Futures Hub for light touch refurbishments and/or digital projects.

Every Local Authority taking part in the Young Futures Hubs programme will also be able to access up to £500k to deliver Local Youth Transformation projects, to build capability and leadership to deliver a high quality youth offer.

Hubs are being designed with local partners and young people to meet the needs of the communities they serve, and we will set out more detail of individual funding arrangements in due course.

The Department believes a well-regulated gambling sector is essential if customers are going to gamble with licensed operators and not unregulated ones, where appropriate protections are not present.

Sussex is home to a range of retail gambling operators, as well as online operators, and horse and greyhound racing venues. These provide many specialised jobs and play an important role in local communities. While most gambling policies are not place-specific, the Department recognises that there are regional differences across the gambling landscape and we believe that the people closest to where impacts are experienced can be best-placed to make decisions. In the summer the Prime Minister announced plans to give local authorities more powers over individual licensing decisions by revoking the ‘aim to permit’ principle, and DCMS will publish a consultation in this area in due course. We also recognise the importance of amusement piers and arcades in providing low-risk leisure venues for families, and in supporting the local economies of seaside towns such as those found in Sussex. To support the Family Entertainment sector, DCMS has consulted on the stakes and prizes for the Category D gaming machines found in these venues. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.

My officials are arranging to meet LightAware to discuss their concerns.

The Enrichment Expansion Programme (EEP), a DCMS-funded programme delivered in strategic partnership with DfE, will invest £22.5 million across 3 years to support up to 400 secondary schools to provide a youth led, tailored enrichment offer and help them meet the Enrichment Framework benchmarks. The Enrichment Framework is non-statutory guidance and will support education settings to plan a high-quality enrichment offer more strategically and intentionally with the aim of increasing the quality of and access to enrichment opportunities.

DCMS has commissioned an independent evaluator to conduct a process, impact and value for money evaluation of the EEP. The evaluation will consider how successfully the programme has delivered against its strategic objectives, which includes evaluating how successfully the programme has supported participating schools to meet the Framework benchmarks. This will include taking a baseline assessment of each school’s provision and pupil participation at the start of the programme to compare progress against by the end of the programme.

Following Machinery of Government changes, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has assumed responsibility for the Women in Tech Taskforce. As Minister for Digital Skills and Inclusion, Vicky Foxcroft co-chairs the Taskforce alongside Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, the Government’s Women in Tech Envoy.

The Women in Tech Taskforce last met on 6 July 2026 and is scheduled to meet again in the coming weeks. Taskforce members and officials meet regularly to develop and advance interventions that government and industry can implement together to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from entering, remaining in, and progressing within the technology sector.

Following Machinery of Government changes, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has assumed responsibility for the Women in Tech Taskforce. As Minister for Digital Skills and Inclusion, Vicky Foxcroft co-chairs the Taskforce alongside Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, the Government’s Women in Tech Envoy.

The Women in Tech Taskforce last met on 6 July 2026 and is scheduled to meet again in the coming weeks. Taskforce members and officials meet regularly to develop and advance interventions that government and industry can implement together to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from entering, remaining in, and progressing within the technology sector.

Information about contracts awarded through public bodies can be found on the Government’s Contracts Finder and Find a Tender websites.

Information about The National Lottery Community Fund’s contract with Lexington Communications can be found on the Government’s Contracts Finder website: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/549bdfe5-947e-4876-b4b8-186acb5f2bc3

The Government recognises the vital role that National Lottery funding plays for heritage, including listed places of worship, and we are committed to continuing to support the existing sectors funded by Good Causes.

The recent Call for Evidence into Lottery Good Cause funding, which closed on 23 September, sought views on how future funding shares should be allocated. Officials are now considering all responses before coming forward with next steps in due course.

The Government recognises the vital role that National Lottery funding plays for heritage, including listed places of worship, and we are committed to continuing to support the existing sectors funded by Good Causes.

The recent Call for Evidence into Lottery Good Cause funding, which closed on 23 September, sought views on how future funding shares should be allocated. Officials are now considering all responses before coming forward with next steps in due course.

Everyone in every community should benefit from technology, including access to appropriate software that meets individual needs.

People need high-quality devices with compatible, up to date software, to maximise their use. Through the IT Reuse for Good Charter, and government pilot, our delivery partners refurbished devices with software suited to the recipient’s needs. For future programmes, we are exploring how software provision can be made more sustainable, accessible, and suitable for individual needs.

The Gambling Commission is not able to comment on or confirm or deny whether they are investigating operators based on intelligence as doing so may prejudice any operation.

The Government recognises the importance of digital inclusion and is committed to ensuring that people can benefit from access to fast, reliable broadband services. This is why we are working to ensure 99% of UK premises can access gigabit broadband coverage by 2032. Legislative measures being taken through the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill intend to remove barriers to gigabit-capable broadband deployment in leasehold flats. Renters living in affected premises may benefit where these measures support improved broadband availability in their building.

We continue to engage with stakeholders to understand the impacts of our proposals and consider their effects on residents, including tenants, as part of our broader objective of supporting nationwide access to high-quality digital connectivity, alongside continuing to expand our evidence base on digital inclusion, for example through our new Public Engagement Survey.

The Department believes a well-regulated gambling sector is essential if customers are going to gamble with licensed operators and not unregulated ones, where appropriate protections are not present.

Sussex is home to a range of retail gambling operators, as well as online operators, and horse and greyhound racing venues. These provide many specialised jobs and play an important role in local communities. While most gambling policies are not place-specific, the Department recognises that there are regional differences across the gambling landscape and we believe that the people closest to where impacts are experienced can be best-placed to make decisions. In the summer the Prime Minister announced plans to give local authorities more powers over individual licensing decisions by revoking the ‘aim to permit’ principle, and DCMS will publish a consultation in this area in due course. We also recognise the importance of amusement piers and arcades in providing low-risk leisure venues for families, and in supporting the local economies of seaside towns such as those found in Sussex. To support the Family Entertainment sector, DCMS has consulted on the stakes and prizes for the Category D gaming machines found in these venues. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.

The Department believes a well-regulated gambling sector is essential if customers are going to gamble with licensed operators and not unregulated ones, where appropriate protections are not present.

Sussex is home to a range of retail gambling operators, as well as online operators, and horse and greyhound racing venues. These provide many specialised jobs and play an important role in local communities. While most gambling policies are not place-specific, the Department recognises that there are regional differences across the gambling landscape and we believe that the people closest to where impacts are experienced can be best-placed to make decisions. In the summer the Prime Minister announced plans to give local authorities more powers over individual licensing decisions by revoking the ‘aim to permit’ principle, and DCMS will publish a consultation in this area in due course. We also recognise the importance of amusement piers and arcades in providing low-risk leisure venues for families, and in supporting the local economies of seaside towns such as those found in Sussex. To support the Family Entertainment sector, DCMS has consulted on the stakes and prizes for the Category D gaming machines found in these venues. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Young Futures Hubs form part of a £500 million investment over the next few years from DCMS for youth services to provide support when and where young people need it, more safe spaces, and access to trusted adults.

Government is committed to ensuring Young Futures Hubs complement and enhance existing youth provision, not replace it. The programme supports local authorities to take a strategic, evidence-led approach to identifying and addressing gaps in support for young people, building on existing youth services, community assets and voluntary and community sector provision.

In addition to funding for their Young Futures Hub, local authorities will receive £500,000 through the Local Youth Transformation Programme to strengthen the local capability, partnerships and infrastructure needed to deliver this approach.

DCMS grant agreements and monitoring will ensure this funding remains strictly additional to existing provision, supported by national evaluation to assess the programme’s impact.

Employees of the Gambling Commission are not Crown servants and therefore not subject to the business appointments applications process.

As required by the model contract for public bodies, the Gambling Commission has robust policies in place to manage business appointments and conflicts of interest, including clear obligations under their Employee Code of Conduct to ensure that the risk of conflicts of interest are considered at the earliest opportunity. The Commission is satisfied that appropriate mitigations are in place to manage and reduce the risk of any actual or perceived conflicts of interest in this case.

Since the Gambling Act 2005 was implemented, the Government and the Gambling Commission have continually reviewed the provisions contained within it, such as through the 2023 White Paper. The white paper led to major reforms such as the introduction of the Statutory Gambling Levy in April 2025 and Gambling Impact Assessments this year.

The Written Statement of 2 September 2026, sets out the Government's intention to remove the ‘aim to permit’ principle in gambling licensing. This proposal builds on our introduction of Gambling Impact Assessments and will empower local authorities to make evidence-based decisions on the makeup of their high streets, in line with local priorities.

The National Youth Agency, which delivers The UK Youth Parliament, estimates that approximately 460,000 young people voted in the most recent Member of Youth Parliament elections. This is an indicative figure, based on information available from regional partners and should therefore be treated as an estimate rather than a confirmed total.

This Government is committed to strengthening young people’s participation in democratic processes and ensuring that they have opportunities to influence decisions that affect their lives.

Fifty local authorities (excluding the early adopters) were shortlisted for the Expression of Interest (EOI) process. Local authorities were shortlisted using a methodology based on local need, combining data on crime, deprivation and community need, and mental health. This targeted the programme’s core goals: improving mental health and wellbeing, increasing opportunities, and reducing vulnerability to crime.

49 local authorities submitted an EOI. A total of 26 local authorities were selected to participate in the programme, alongside the 8 Early Adopter local authorities. The remaining 23 were not selected at this time.

Demand for funding far exceeded that which was available, and as with any competitive process, meant that not all areas that submitted EOIs could be supported. This should not be taken as a reflection of the level of need in the area, and we recognise that areas not selected for Young Futures Hubs and Local Youth Transformation Funding also face significant challenges. We aim to support local authorities to develop connections across the region and share learnings wider so more areas can learn and benefit from this transformation programme.