Our statement on Danny Kruger MP’s Levelling Up Our Communities
25 September 2020
On 24th September 2020, Danny Kruger MP released his report Levelling Up Our Communities, based on over 500 submissions. Kruger was asked by the Prime Minister in June to consult on supporting civil society groups in the recovery phase of COVID-19 and how they could contribute to the Government’s levelling up agenda.
You can read our statement below.
London Youth welcomes Danny Kruger MP’s report on supporting civil society groups in the recovery phase of COVID-19 and how they could contribute to the Government’s levelling up agenda.
We would particularly welcome the creation of the Community Recovery Fund and the Levelling Up Communities Fund. The former would be additional source of support for struggling community youth organisations, such as the third of London Youth’s members warning that they could struggle to operate by the end of the year due to COVID-19.
The report contains some new thinking about the future of civil society, including a renewed focus on local solutions and building social infrastructure. It also acknowledges the failures of the Big Society policy approach and the devastating impact of austerity on local authority-funded public services, particularly youth services.
The pandemic has once again shone a light on the need for Government to address the fundamental and unresolved issues of funding, commissioning and national strategy to support youth services. The civil society organisations who are so important to delivering recovery need answers to ensure they can play a sustained contribution. We look forward to working with the Minister for Civil Society Baroness Barran and the Department for Digital, Media, Culture & Sport on these issues.”
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