“Labour will intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime, creating a new Young Futures programme with a network of hubs reaching every community”
The final design and development of the hubs remains ongoing but the rollout will be preceded by a series of early adopter hubs. The government says it will set out more details in due course.
The Young Futures programme, which aims to “tackle knife crime and address rising mental health issues among young people”, was first announced at the Labour Party Conference in October 2023.
According to the party’s manifesto, the government will “intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime, creating a new Young Futures programme with a network of hubs reaching every community”. It adds: “These hubs will have youth workers, mental health support workers, and careers advisers on hand to support young people’s mental health and avoid them being drawn into crime.”
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Shortly after the election, the charity Oasis announced that it would open a pilot hub on the site of a former girls school in South London, and this has now happened. The charity reportedly also had at least four further hubs in development.
Although Oasis has said the first site is intended to act as a “blueprint” for other hubs, and that it was announced “following conversations with the Labour team”, it is not a formal Home Office project.
Oasis founder Steve Chalke said: “Our work is to support Labour in their manifesto promises… We are getting started ahead of the policy detail and funding being worked on and finalised, because that is the best way to inform that process.”
According to reports in The Guardian in August 2024, the home secretary Yvette Cooper described the programme as “a 10-year vision”.
The manifesto assigns total funding of £95 million for the creation of the hubs, with the revenue coming from applying VAT and business rates to private schools. The change to the VAT status of such schools began on 1 January 2025, and the removal of business rates relief is likely to take effect in April 2025.
In answer to a written question about progress on the introduction of the hubs on 13 February 2025, Labour’s Janet Daby, parliamentary under-secretary for the Department for Education, wrote: “To roll out Young Futures Hubs, the department will first establish early adopter hubs.
“These, and work with local areas, will inform the longer-term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs. Young Futures Hubs will build upon the successes of existing infrastructure and provision. We will set out more details in due course.”
Recent statements in Parliament indicate the government remains committed to introducing the hubs, but opposition politicians have expressed concerns that little substantial progress appears to have been made since they were announced.
In March 2025 the charity Youth Access published a blueprint which set out a roadmap for action to ensure the successful implementation of the hubs.
Produced independently of the government and backed by 39 youth and mental health organisations, the charity described the blueprint as “intended to support the Department for Education, the Home Office, and the Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Culture, Media and Sport as well as No.10 and wider Government departments in the design and development of Young Futures hubs”.
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