Story perspectives

UK Youth Parliament loses funding after March 2027

By Drooid · Sep 19, 2026, 4:07 PM UTC · How we work

Center

£453k Youth Scheme

The UK Youth Parliament may be closed after the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced it will not fund the programme beyond March 2027.
The department said it will develop a new youth-democracy scheme aimed at under-represented groups, with details expected in autumn.
The programme received £453,000 of taxpayer funding in its most recent year.
The October 2025 review found only a quarter of youths aware and some schools felt excluded.

Right

Woke Waste Allegations

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced that the UK Youth Parliament will receive no government funding after March 2027.
Critics such as Taxpayers’ Alliance director Dia Chakravarty and Conservative MP Jack Rankin called the scheme a ‘colossal waste’ and ‘woke’ and urged voluntary donations.
The programme currently receives £500,000 of annual taxpayer funding.
It was established by Tony Blair’s government in 2000.

Blindspot

An external review published in October 2025 found that only about a quarter of young people are aware of the UK Youth Parliament and that some schools felt excluded from the programme.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Center-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Right-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

The UK Youth Parliament emerged from the 1998 Coventry “Heirs To The Millennium” event, with Andrew Rowe and Jannik Ecke forming a steering committee and the first elections held in 2000. Initially funded with £1 million annually and later receiving a £750,000 DCMS grant, it now has over 300 members and, by 2015, more than 200,000 participants; a £500,000 cut after March 2027 could end the model.

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£453k Youth Scheme

The UK Youth Parliament may be closed after the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced it will not fund the programme beyond March 2027.
The department said it will develop a new youth-democracy scheme aimed at under-represented groups, with details expected in autumn.
The programme received £453,000 of taxpayer funding in its most recent year.
The October 2025 review found only a quarter of youths aware and some schools felt excluded.

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