At the end of October 2024 several MPs had responded positively to their local YMCA which are here. Then in November I was interested to read that two more members had commented.

The first was early that month from the Labour MP on Stoke on Trent and then later there was a session was from the House of Lords who is in Whitley Bay. It is great to see these two people who have spoken for YMCA’s.

On the 6th November, David Williams, the Labour MP for Stoke on Trent made a reference during a debate about Income Tax (Charge) item.

I did not set out to become an MP. After studying at Keele University—one of our two great local universities—I worked in a local Sure Start centre. I saw how mums had been let down by the state, but I also saw how, with a hand up from the new Labour Government at the time, they were able to get back on their feet. I then worked for the YMCA, where we set up training schemes, secured funding to reopen youth clubs that were closed under austerity, and supported young people into affordable housing. However, 14 years of Conservative Government left our services on their knees and levelling up was a failed promise. We faced a 97% cut in spending on youth services in my constituency alone. Our Sure Start centres were hollowed out. Annual household incomes have fallen behind rising living costs. Indeed, in some areas of my constituency as many as two thirds of families live in poverty and weekly earnings are some £100 lower than the England average.

On the 20th November, Lord Parkinson, Stephen of Whitley Bay, the Conservative member of the House of Lords spoke. He was previously involved in the National Youth Strategy

UK Youth summarised the views of the sector neatly when it said that the Statement was deeply unsettling. As noble Lords will be aware, the National Citizen Service funded countless projects throughout the country. The specific structure of the programme ensured that funds were widely distributed to grass-roots organisations. These include, among others, London Youth, Children North East, the YMCA, which we talked about in our debate last week on the implications of the Budget for cultural organisations and charities, and the EFL trust, which is a charity that helps drive young people through the football talent pipeline. I find it slightly strange that the Government are taking a Bill through your Lordships’ House that seeks to improve the sustainability of English football and the future of the sport at the same time as they are pulling funding from charities that help support the grass roots of the beautiful game.