Youth engagement consultation 2025 - Dartford Labour Party

Picture of Jim Dickson talking to young people; Title "Dartford `youth Engagement Strategy 2025`'

Content

Foreword
Context
Theme 1: Finances
Theme 2: Work Experience and Job Opportunities
Theme 3: Health and Wellbeing
Theme 4: Transport
Theme 5: Accessible and safe spaces for young people
Theme 6: Affordable Housing
Theme 7: Environment
Theme 8: AI clarity
Theme 9: Safety
References

Foreword

The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to provide young people with the services and opportunities they deserve to help them reach their potential. As part of this, there has been a nationwide consultation with young people across England to ensure the strategy has young people at its core. Young people in Dartford have been generous with their time and shared brilliant and diverse ideas for me to take to the government, by filling out the National Youth Survey and showing up to our Youth Engagement Event to take part in a focus group and discuss how we can best deliver for young people.

The event held on the 22nd April 2025 had 30 attendees representing the views of Dartford, and they shared their concerns for the future, tackling topics like affordable housing, cost of living, mental health, and community. This report is a reflection of the discussions held at the event and represents the views expressed to me by attendees, alongside their survey responses and emails. This material will be used to form part of the evidence for the National Youth Strategy, the initial findings of which will be delivered in Spring 2025.

I am grateful to all the young Dartford residents who took the time to fill out surveys, write to me and speak with me in person to help inform the government’s strategy for young people. Everyone who took part will have their thoughts shared with the government and be a valuable part of the upcoming strategy. I feel strongly that any Youth Strategy should be written with young people, and I appreciate every person who has contributed to that. It has been a pleasure to hear from young people across Dartford.

A special mention needs to go to the team at the YMCA Dartford for hosting us and supporting the collation of this evidence.

– Jim Dickson MP for Dartford

Context

Growing population

Dartford has the fastest growing young population in the UK, with the population of under 15-year-olds growing by over 30% in ten years.

Despite this, there remain few facilities or services directed at young people in Dartford and national data suggests that services for young people nationwide are in decline. – ONS (2022) ‘How the population changed in Dartford: Census 2021’,

Funding for youth services nationally were cut 70% between 2013 and 2023 and over 760 youth centres had to close as a result, with young people left with nowhere to go but loiter on the streets, fuelling a rise in anti-social behaviour. National Youth Agency (2024) ‘The social cost of youth work cuts’

Mental health

Young people are struggling with their mental health more than ever, with over 1 million young people referred to mental health services in 2022, a 53% increase from just three years before3. It is urgent to understand the causes of this rise in poor mental health. The government has promised a mental health nurse in every school by 2028, but we need to understand how the government can further support struggling young people to achieve their full potential and overcome health barriers. -’ YoungMinds (2022) ‘Yearly referrals to young people’s mental health services have risen by 53% since2019,

Cost of living

Rising expenses have led young people to feel uncertain about their future. 53% of young people said that money troubles were their biggest concern – YoungMinds (2023) ‘Impact Report 2023’ and while employment rates for young people are rising, initially so did unemployment rates as more young people were searching for work. There has been a reversal of this rise in 2025, with the number of young people in work, training or education increasing for 16–24-year-olds – House of Commons Library (2025) ‘Youth unemployment statistics’ Mental health has become an important factor causing young people to be out of work, education, or training as 25% of those not in work, education or training cite ill mental health as a cause – de Hoog, N. and Aguilar Garcia, C. (2024) ‘More than 500,000 under-35s in UK out of work due to long-term illness’ in The Guardian

This report attempts to examine some of the main issues facing young people today, such as mental health and finances, and open dialogue about means of support that the government can consider in the consultation.

Theme 1: Finances

An overarching theme brought up was concern around cost of living and sustainable finances. Most concerns raised throughout survey and focus groups relate to the affordability of resources like transport or housing and a desire to secure stable employment. Focus groups consistently brought up their want for financial support, resources to support young people or those on low income, and action to reduce cost of living. Survey respondents identified lower living costs and financial support as the main means by which the government can deliver for young people.

Theme 2: Work experience and opportunities

Respondents identified lack of job opportunities and work experience as another primary concern, with survey respondents unanimous in their desire for the government to provide more job/work experience (see Fig 1.).

Rates in unemployment for 16–24-year-olds have risen over the last few years7, though there has been a decrease in unemployment figures in 2025. In the focus groups, young people highlighted that this is often not an active choice, with strong desire for more opportunity to work or learn a constant theme in focus group discussions.

Participants brought up a variety of issues within the topic of job seeking:

No variety in career options – young people feel they are being pushed into certain careers, such as the military or nursing, and not informed about other options for their careers or pathways to begin their career in different industries.
More entry-level jobs – participants felt that it was difficult to begin any career without having some degree of experience first, which was difficult to find unless your parents had connections in an industry. There was a perceived lack of entry-level jobs in general. – House of Commons Library (2025) ‘Youth unemployment statistics’
Job accessibility (location) – many entry-level jobs or apprenticeships were London-based, or any retail jobs would be based in Bluewater which is expensive to travel to.
Job accessibility (discrimination) – young people felt that there were biases in the job market. For example:
- Disability – disabled young people felt that workplaces didn’t make enough accommodations for disabled workers and it was more difficult to get a job if you had accessibility requirements.
- BAME – BAME young people felt that they were sometimes treated with hostility in the workplace and that they were sometimes looked down upon due to their ethnicity.
Training (affordability) – if you found yourself in the gap between funded scholarship and parents being able to fund your education and training, it became impossible to afford any courses. Many suggested more free training should be provided, particularly for Level 4 apprenticeships.
Training (frequency) – there should be more access to job training workshops throughout school and beyond, including interview practise and CV workshops.
Support for workshops about ‘life skills’ like tax and budgeting to understand what to do once in employment.
Higher education – the cost of higher education makes it unaffordable to people whose parents can’t support them
- Cannot pay the rent for student accommodation.
- Don’t want to start their working life in debt.
Exploitative contracts – zero-hour contracts are not helpful when you need a regular income to pay for bills or pay back debts.

Theme 3: Health and Wellbeing

Health and wellbeing was flagged as an important area for young people, with ‘improve access to healthcare (physical and social)’ the second most unanimous topic identified in the survey.

It was further noted that when exploring ways to help young people with their careers, health and wellbeing support was a priority area, seen as a more effective mechanism to achieve future career goals than internships or work experience. This supports prior research into employment for young people, which identifies mental health problems as a significant influence on economic inactivity.

Focus group participants flagged similar requests for more mental and physical health support, reflecting particularly on:

Social anxieties – many participants believed that they would benefit from support to develop their social skills, including the idea of ‘engagement vans’, where youth support workers would provide group sessions for young people in the community.
Access to mental health services – young people discussed various issues:
- Many felt there was insufficient signposting to appropriate mental health services and more awareness of available resources was necessary.
- There was a perceived difficulty of getting an appointment to discuss mental health
- Once referred, some found their therapists could be culturally insensitive.
Access to physical health services – young people discussed various issues:
- GP waitlists are still longer than people want.
- Care needs to be brought further into the community to be more accessible for Dartford residents and prevent health issues from spiralling.
- Gender affirming care should be appropriately delivered and more accessible for trans and intersex people.

Theme 4: Transport

Out of all services in Dartford, young people most wanted more access to public transport services both to get around and to travel from Dartford.

Focus groups participants were equally in favour of extending current public transport and improving frequency, price, and accessibility.

Specific topics raised included:

Isolation – a lack of public transport within Dartford meant people were cut off from different areas of the borough and friends who lived there or attended other schools.
Cost – the price of trains and buses were too expensive and made it difficult to travel to areas for work or social activities.
Respondents were in favour of an Oyster card equivalent for Dartford.
Respondents also suggested they should be entitled to free transport until age 18.
Availability – increase in bus services around Dartford. Trains to London were frequent but trains around Dartford should be improved.
Driving – gridlock traffic and collapsed roads made it difficult to use driving as an alternative form of transport. Driving was even less attractive due to the cost of driving lessons and insurance.

Theme 5: Accessible and safe spaces for young people

An emerging trend was the desire for more community spaces for young people to go to, with consistent arguments that there was nowhere for young people to meet each other or engage in activities. A desire for increased spaces for young people intersects with other needs, too. For example, survey respondents identified a desire for more wellness facilities like leisure centres, which can serve as both safe spaces and a means to improve wellbeing.

Survey respondents also supported greater access to creative spaces, with focus groups participants associating greater access with improved wellbeing and increased capacity to find work in creative industries.

Overall, young people expressed a strong desire for more spaces for them, both to meet aforementioned needs of wellbeing and career development, and for other reasons too:

Feel perceived as threatening – young people feel as though their presence in children’s spaces like playgrounds are intimidating for both children and families, but have nowhere else to go.
Digital confinement – no spaces to go to means that the best place to socialise is through social media, which some participants argue can be an uncomfortable or dangerous space.
Outdoor fitness – want to get fresh air and to be able to exercise for free to meet health and fitness needs.
Developing social skills – no spaces to meet other people adds to the frustration of feeling like they are struggling with their social skills.
Priced out of activities – activities like cinema or gym membership are too expensive for young people. Youth specific and discounted activities were desirable.

Theme 6: Affordable Housing

Fitting in with the overarching themes of finances and affordability, young people expressed an interest in more affordable housing provision, with affordable housing polling the same as improved public transport when looking at nation strategy.

Affordable housing was a theme consistently brought up in focus groups too, with participants focusing primarily on two areas:

Unable to afford rent – the cost of renting was too high, and participants felt they were disincentivised from moving out of home due to costs.
Bidding wars mean young people often can’t move into affordable housing as they are outbid by parties on higher income.
Dartford infrastructure not suitable for young people – very few properties designed for young people to rent and the lack of facilities in the local area for young people discourages them from renting in Dartford.
No expectation of ownership – don’t see a future in which they will be able to buy a property due to cost of housing and difficulty saving as a result of cost of living.

Theme 7: Environment

There was not a significant amount of interest in environmental issues in the survey, but concerns around the environment frequently arose in focus groups:

Energy – support for renewable energy sources and investment in net zero energy due to longevity of source and moral belief in net zero.
Technology – main concern about advancements in technology was the environmental impact of new tech, particularly in the case of AI.
Activities – favoured any activities that supported the environment such as planting trees or building green spaces. Action groups to tackle climate change seen as source of hope and a place to ‘come together’ with others.

Theme 8: AI clarity

Similarly, while AI was not covered in survey responses, concerns around AI were discussed in focus groups:

Uncertainty around appropriate use – would like to learn more about how AI works, when it is helpful and when it can be risky or counterproductive to use.
Job instability – nerves around entering the job market because they feel they will be replaced by AI. Want to learn about career options that won’t be replaced by AI so they can ensure stable employment.
Environment – concerns that AI is damaging to the environment. Reluctant to engage with AI due to its negative environmental impact.

Theme 9: Safety

Safety was another frequently mentioned scheme in focus groups despitenot being as frequently selected as one of the top 3 priorities for young people in the survey.

Young people showed a concern for safety in many areas:

Lack of police presence – many felt the lack of police station in Dartford would make it difficult to report a crime as they would have to travel. There was limited CCTV in alleyways and crime hotspots.
Isolation due to safety concerns – there was a sense that the town centre was unsafe at night, particularly due to crimes like phone-snatching or bike theft, meaning participants preferred to stay at home in the evenings.
Online safety – social media felt ‘dodgy’ and young people would benefit from more and updated education on online safety as they often have to rely on peers for guidance.