Prospectus for £16million Youth Engagement Fund

Cabinet Office has published a prospectus for the £16million Youth Engagement Fund which aims to support young people at risk of becoming NEET.

This fund will help disadvantaged young people aged 14 to 17 to participate and succeed in education or training, improving their employability, reducing their long term dependency on benefits, and reducing their likelihood of offending.

Jointly funded between the Cabinet Office, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Justice, the fund aims to support up to 18,000 young people in over 100 schools in England.

The funding will be delivered through social impact bonds, which are a payment by results system and will see investors fund innovative projects to prevent young people from becoming NEET, with government only paying if the projects are successful.

The prospectus, which can be downloaded at www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-engagement-fund-prospectus, provides further details on the aims and structure of the fund and the bidding process.

Cabinet Office aim to open the fund to initial applications from partnerships in early July when they will publish full bidding documentation and will also hold bidder information events. In the meantime they would encourage potential applicants to start conversations with potential partners in their area.

To register interest in the Youth Engagement Fund email yef@cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk.