Massive funding boost for youth services in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire County Council will be awarded between £250,000 and £750,000 over the next few months
Last updated 13th Aug 2025
Investment in Oxfordshire’s youth services has “never been more needed” as Oxfordshire County Council is due to receive a huge funding boost.
The Government announced it would invest £8m in supporting 12 local councils in providing more youth services and activities outside school, with Oxfordshire being one of the areas chosen for the pilot scheme.
The news has been welcomed by local politicians, while some are urging the county council to invest in the most deprived parts of the county.
Oxfordshire County Council will be awarded between £250,000 and £750,000 over the next few months to deliver the scheme, but the exact grant amount has not been determined yet.
Labour MPs Anneliese Dodds and Sean Woodcock, who represent Oxford East and Banbury respectively, wrote to the leader of the county council Liz Leffman asking that their constituents “do not miss out on this opportunity”.
In their letter, they said: “We represent seven of the 10 wards with highest levels of deprivation in Oxfordshire: Barton & Sandhills, Banbury Cross and Neithrop, Banbury Grimsbury and Hightown Banbury Ruscote, Blackbird Leys, Littlemore and Rose Hill and Iffley.
“These are exactly the kind of areas this investment is designed to help, and we ask that any plan Oxfordshire County Council proposes includes these wards.”
Labour city councillor Linda Smith, who represents Blackbird Leys, said youth services in the county had been run as a “skeleton service”, and that this new funding has “never been more needed”.
She added: “Here in Oxford community sector organisations such as Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground and Donnington Doorstep are really struggling right now, and families rely on them as safe places where kids benefit from positive activities outside of school hours.
“I hope the county council will make sure the money is spent where it is most needed in our communities supporting the organisations already working with young people.
“I hope the new funding will also be able to build on the fantastic new resource we have in the brand-new Leys Youth Hub to maximise its impact and help make sure as many children and young people as possible are able to benefit from it’s wonderful new facilities.”
She added that the city council had also set up its own ‘Youth Ambition’ programme of activities and community organisations.
Independent Oxford Alliance councillor David Henwood, who represents Rose Hill and Littlemore on the county council, said: “We do want to improve youth services, especially in areas of high deprivation.
“It helps manage anti-social behaviour and we see lots of value in doing that, and we are pleased that the funding has been made available.”
A spokesperson for the county council said: “The scheme will build on the work of the new adolescence and prevention service within our children’s social care team and focus on supporting identified areas of need from the National Youth Agency Peer review, which we commissioned in January 2025.
“These areas include consideration of the impact of rurality on young people, young people’s voice and participation, partnership collaboration and workforce development.
“We now wait to hear from The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to agree the specific areas of focus and that this will be confirmed in September.”
Other authorities included in the pilot include Derbyshire, Peterborough, Islington, Southwark, Hartlepool, Knowsley, Liverpool, Cornwall, Shropshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Doncaster.
It is part of the Government’s Local Youth Transformation Pilot, which includes a £88 million investment in supporting youth clubs and schools in England and Wales to offer more after-school activities.