YouthLink Scotland welcomes the Scottish Government’s new Programme for Government’s emphasis on prevention, early intervention, and improving outcomes for young people – supporting the recognition that effective partnership is needed to deliver change.
Responding to the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, Tim Frew, Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland, said:
“We welcome the Programme for Government’s strong emphasis on prevention, early intervention and improving outcomes for Scotland’s young people. We also welcome its recognition that government cannot deliver change alone and that progress will depend on effective partnership across public services, local government, the third sector and communities.
“Youth work must be an essential part of that partnership. The ambitions set out in this Programme for Government—from reducing the poverty-related attainment gap and improving mental health to preventing youth violence and building safer communities—cannot be fully delivered without the youth work sector.
“We are particularly pleased to see No Knives, Better Lives recognised within the Government’s plans to prevent youth violence. Delivered nationally by YouthLink Scotland, it demonstrates what can be achieved through sustained, evidence-led partnership between youth workers, educators, community organisations, justice agencies and young people themselves.
“We also want to build on our Imagine a Man pilot, which worked with boys and young men to explore positive masculinity. The programme created supportive spaces in which they could talk openly about identity, emotions, relationships and the pressures they face, while examining harmful stereotypes and developing their own positive understanding of what it means to be a man. This experience and learning are particularly relevant to the Government’s commitment to challenge problematic and misogynistic attitudes among boys and young men before they escalate and cause harm.
“We welcome the continued commitment to closing the poverty-related attainment gap. YouthLink Scotland delivers the Youth Work and Schools Partnership National Programme as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge. Through this work, we see how collaboration between schools and youth work can improve wellbeing, readiness to learn, attendance and engagement, particularly for young people whose needs are not always met through formal education alone.
“We also welcome the commitment to support young entrepreneurs engaged in the First Minister’s Start-Up Challenge. Youth work organisations, alongside partners such as The King’s Trust, have an important role to play in helping young people develop the confidence, skills, networks and practical support they need to turn their ideas into opportunities.
“Youth work is also increasingly providing initial mental health support. There is a significant space between a young person beginning to struggle and reaching crisis point, and youth workers are often already there, trusted adults who know young people, build relationships over time and can provide support before problems escalate.
“The youth work sector has the expertise, reach and relationships to help turn the Government’s commitment to prevention into practical delivery. However, that contribution cannot be sustained without a strong national and local infrastructure.
“We also welcome the commitment of £200,000 in 2026–27 for Social Impact Partnerships to develop preventative and early-intervention proposals, and the intention, if these are successful, to establish a £10 million Social Impact Investment Fund over the parliamentary term. It will be important that youth work organisations are involved in shaping and delivering this investment, bringing their expertise in prevention and their trusted relationships with young people and communities.
“We want to work collegiately with the Scottish Government, local authorities and partners on a clear national plan for youth work, setting out how the sector will contribute to these shared priorities and the investment required to deliver them. That must include support for the workforce, sustainable multiyear funding for youth work organisations and access to the safe, welcoming spaces where young people can build relationships, develop skills and find a sense of belonging.
“We share the Government’s ambition to improve young people’s lives and create stronger, safer communities. Youth work is already helping to deliver that change across Scotland.
“By recognising the sector as an essential partner – and strengthening the infrastructure on which it depends – we can ensure prevention becomes more than an aspiration and reaches young people wherever and whenever they need support.”