AQW 40677/22-27


Mr Eóin Tennyson
Alliance Party
Upper Bann


Tabled Date: 16/02/2026
Answered On Date: 23/02/2026
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any further financial support he can provide for statutory youth services.


Answer:
Funding is allocated from my Department to the Education Authority (EA) to provide youth services either directly or via community and voluntary sector funding grants in order to meet their statutory requirement as set out in Article 37 of The Education and Library Boards (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. The table below details funding provided to EA for youth provision over the last 5 years.
Year
Community and Voluntary Funding Grants
£’000
EA Direct Youth Services
£’000
Total Resource
£’000
2021/22
21,524
22,196
43,720
2022/23
14,429
26,116
40,545
2023/24 [1]
15,702
25,143
40,845
2024/25
15,223
26,564
41,787
2025/26[2]
14,897
28,120
43,017
[1] Updated figure to AQW 678/22-27 as the financial year had not completed at the time the previous figure was provided.
[2] Most up to date figures provided as year-end not available
The total resource also includes funding provided by other Departments for specific programmes.
Current indications suggest Education is facing a resource funding gap of c£0.8 billion in 2026-27, increasing to over £1.15 billion in 2028-29. Therefore, it is unlikely that my department can offer any increase to the youth budget.