MD3380 Delivery Plan – Supporting and Inspiring Young London

Background
1.1.    The Greater London Authority (GLA) has been establishing refreshed delivery and governance arrangements over the last few months. 
1.2.    In undertaking these changes, we have:
•    defined a set of London-level, long-term outcomes which reflect Londoners’ aspirations for the city and towards which the GLA and the GLA Group are working, in partnership with others
•    agreed a small set of strategic, high-level, programmes which the Mayor will commission the GLA Group to deliver in order that the GLA and the GLA Group make the appropriate contributions towards the London-level outcomes.
1.3.    MD3274 ‘Updates to GLA Governance Documents’, published on 13 June 2024, marked the first formal step in implementing new portfolio and governance arrangements and set out approved revisions to the arrangements through which the Mayor exercises and, where appropriate, delegates his powers. It also laid out some changes to the way the GLA’s senior leadership works to ensure that the GLA is successful in exercising its strategic role and in securing delivery.
1.4.    The GLA is now bringing forward for approval delivery plans for the 14 strategic, high-level, programmes which are led by the GLA and involve functional bodies as appropriate. These are numbered 1-14 and set out below, along with delivery plans 15-21, where the relevant GLA Group organisation is taking a leadership role: 
1.    Building more homes
2.    Making best use of land
3.    Improving London’s housing stock
4.    Reducing inequalities
5.    Accommodation and wider support for those who need it most
6.    Reducing non-residential emissions
7.    Delivering a greener, more climate-resilient London
8.    Cleaning London’s air
9.    Supporting Londoners to benefit from growth
10.    Supporting and inspiring young London
11.    Boosting London’s growth sectors
12.    Helping local economies to thrive
13.    Upgrading London’s infrastructure
14.    Celebrating London
15.    Reducing violence and exploitation
16.    Building safer, more confident communities
17.    Supporting and overseeing reform of the Metropolitan Police Service
18.    Improving the Criminal Justice System and supporting victims
19.    Healthy streets
20.    Decarbonising transport
21.    Providing more effective, accessible and affordable public transport.
1.5.    The Mayor has been issuing mandates for these proposed programmes to prospective Senior Responsible Owners (SROs). Mayoral mandates define what the Mayor wants to see from each of the programmes, including their scope, objectives, and cross-cutting priorities. Programmes and their associated delivery plans have been developed by the proposed programme SROs, working with the relevant Deputy Mayors, Mayoral Directors and others in response to the Mayor’s mandates. They have been developed to strike the right balance between setting out plans and retaining flexibility to respond to events and learning, as delivery progresses, recognising that agility is important in the context of a changing landscape.
1.6.    Delivery plans lay out the London-level outcomes to which each programme contributes. In considering the GLA’s specific role in contributing to the London-level outcomes, programme SROs have focused on the role of the GLA as London’s strategic regional authority. This has meant looking carefully at where activities most effectively sit within the London system and how the GLA can work with partners to unlock and drive progress. In some cases that will be through direct delivery or through funding. In others it will be through more indirect mechanisms such as system reconfiguration, coalition formation, technical support or capacity building.
1.7.    Resource allocations to each programme are based on the allocations contained in the GLA: Mayor Budget 2025-26. Changes required to delivery plans over time will be agreed by the Mayoral Delivery Board (MDB) or the Mayor in line with our revised governance arrangements.
1.8.    Delivery plans lay out how each programme makes a positive difference to the relevant London-level outcomes. Key programme outputs are also detailed and will be reported quarterly to MDB, which is responsible for monitoring the performance and delivery of each programme’s delivery plans.
Overview of the Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan
1.9.    The Mayoral mandate for the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme is appended to this Decision form at Appendix 1. The proposed delivery plan is appended at Appendix 2 and presented by the Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport, as the proposed SRO, for the Mayor’s approval. 
1.10.    By approving the plan, and the resources allocated to it, the Mayor is enabling the GLA, working with partners, to contribute to the core London-level outcomes: 
•    children and young Londoners achieve the health and learning outcomes they need to thrive at every stage of development
•    children and young Londoners have the positive opportunities needed to be successful and Londoners have the skills they need to improve their lives.
1.11.    The challenges faced by young Londoners are acute. Many young Londoners are experiencing more of the challenges of London than its benefits. 
1.12.    Young Londoners are more likely to be growing up in poverty and the proportion of children living in poverty in London has consistently been higher than anywhere else in the UK. Young Londoners are also impacted by their wider socio-economic background, the housing provision they live in and their ability to engage with the educational system.
1.13.    Some young Londoners are at increased risk of involvement in violence. This can be due to a number of factors including, socio-economic background, experience of violence in the home and others. The evidence is clear that the provision of positive activities and support for youth work can have a vital role in diverting young people at risk away from violence, as well as supporting all young people with the opportunities they need to thrive – but access to these opportunities can be scarce. The Mayor will continue to pioneer prevention and early intervention through his Violence Reduction Unit, the first of its kind in England and Wales. 
1.14.    The Mayor will work across London to bring together key partners delivering for Young Londoners – and directly commission key programmes to work on meeting the most acute of these gaps. 
1.15.    The Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan aims to ensure that the Mayor can work to bridge the gap between opportunity and offer and enhance young Londoners ability to access these opportunities. A positive opportunity is a youth focused activity, programme or event that supports a young person to (either singularly or in combination) build trusted relationships, access new networks, acquire new skills and/or develop confidence and coping strategies. The Mayor will deliver 250,000 of these positive opportunities during this term. The Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme has five strands:
•    continue universal free school meals
•    ensuring that young people are safe and thriving
•    ensuring that children and young people have good physical and mental health
•    ensuring young people are equipped to gain good employment and career progression
•    ensuring young people’s voices are heard and lead to meaningful change.
1.16.    The proposed delivery plan sets out the budget for each project within the programme. 
1.17.    Projects detailed in the delivery plan fall into one of two categories:
•    projects which are already set out in detail in an existing Mayoral Decision or Director Decision
•    projects for which this Mayoral Decision seeks Mayoral delegation to the SRO to take expenditure decisions  
1.18.    The projects with Mayoral Decisions and other relevant approvals already in place are:  
•    delivery of the existing Universal Free School Meals Programme under Mayoral Decision MD3332
•    continuing to deliver the NDYP legacy grant programme agreed under Mayoral Decisions MD2945 and MD3130
•    delivery of the Healthy Schools, Healthy Early years programme agreed under Mayoral Decision MD3197
•    delivery of the Go! London collaborative sports fund approved under Mayoral Decision MD3034
•    delivery of the Holiday Hope programme approved under Mayoral Decision MD3371
•    delivery of the Mental Health in Schools programme approved under Mayoral Decision MD3354
•    delivery of the London Youth Guarantee Trailblazers approved under Mayoral Decision MD3348.
1.19.    Projects for which this Mayoral Decision seeks Mayoral delegation to the SRO to take expenditure decisions are:
•    delivery of years 2 and 3 of the Holiday Hope Programme
•    delivery of mentoring training and support for volunteer mentors
•    delivery of partnership work with major US sporting brands and other brands as appropriate and approved by Mayoral appointees
•    employment and training opportunities for young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) or young people at risk of being NEET
•    convening and coordinating, and young people's voices (including the London Music Fund and Mayor's Fund for London).
1.20.    The Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport, will ensure compliance with the obligations set out in The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 which describe when written records of decisions and their content need to be published. Director Decisions and Assistant Director Decisions will be required where appropriate to meet these transparency requirements, including in instances where GLA funds are paid to external organisations.
Transfers to/from other programmes
1.21.    Development of this delivery plan has prompted refinements to the published budget. As a consequence, Mayoral approval is sought for budget transfers between Supporting and Inspiring Young London and other programmes, in accordance with GLA governance processes.
1.22.    Funding for the London Plus Grant and London Funders Membership were included within the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme when the GLA 2025-26 budget was approved in March 2025. It has since been decided that it is more appropriate for these activities to be included within the Reducing Inequalities programme. This MD seeks approval to transfer this funding accordingly.
1.23.    Funding for part of the Creative Industries project was included within the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme when the GLA 2025-26 budget was approved in March 2025. It has since been decided that it is more appropriate for this funding to be included within the Boosting London’s Growth Sectors programme. This MD seeks approval to transfer this funding accordingly.
1.24.    Funding for the volunteering brokerage website awareness and volunteering EDI reward and recognition projects were included within the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme when the GLA 2025-26 budget was approved in March 2025. It has since been decided that it is more appropriate for these projects to be included within the Celebrating London programme. This MD seeks approval to transfer this funding accordingly.
1.25.    Funding for the Social Economy project was included within the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme when the GLA 2025-26 budget was approved in March 2025. It has since been decided that it is more appropriate for this project to be included within the Supporting Londoners to Benefit from Growth programme. This MD seeks approval to transfer this funding accordingly.
1.26.    Funding for the London Youth Guarantee Trailblazers and employment and training opportunities for young people at risk of NEET projects were included within the Supporting Londoners to Benefit from Growth programme when the GLA 2025-26 budget was approved in March 2025. It has since been decided that it is more appropriate for these projects to be included within the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme. This MD seeks approval to transfer this funding accordingly.
1.27.    Funding for the London Music Fund was included within the Reducing Inequalities programme when the GLA 2025-26 budget was approved in March 2025. It has since been decided that it is more appropriate for this funding to be included within the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme. This MD seeks approval to transfer this funding accordingly.
Securing additional funding for projects in the delivery plan
1.28.    Key to meeting the objectives and expected outcomes of the Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan is securing funding to support the delivery of both new and existing projects. This funding may come from central government, but may also come from other sources including agencies, utilities providers, philanthropic funders and the private sector. 
1.29.    Where funding is secured in the future to support the delivery of projects with legacy approvals in place, this decision form seeks approval to agree the receipt of such funding by the GLA without the need for a further Mayoral Decision. This would be for any funding secured to deliver projects that are already approved, and which contribute to the Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan. 
1.30.    Where additional funding from government (or other sources) is secured in the future to expand or extend existing approved projects contained in the Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan, and the parameters remain the same or similar as originally agreed with government (or the relevant body), this decision form seeks approval to delegate to the Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport, to agree the receipt of such funding after consulting with legal advisors and the GLA’s Chief Finance Officer and subsequently having secured agreement from the MDB. For the purposes of considering whether the parameters are similar as originally agreed with government (or the relevant body), the Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport, will have regard to whether the outcomes to be delivered have changed significantly or there is a significant change in attendant risks of the original scheme. If the outcomes to be delivered have changed significantly or there is a significant change in attendant risks, or the decision is viewed as novel, contentious or repercussive, a Mayoral Decision will be required.
1.31.    Any decisions to accept additional funding will need to comply with the obligations set out in The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 as highlighted in paragraph 1.20 above. Any decisions to accept additional funding that do not require a formal decision form must be documented via a Record in Writing, as defined in MD3274 'Updates to GLA Governance Documents’, signed in June 2024, and will be reported publicly quarterly.

2.1.    The delivery plan for the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme describes how the GLA will work across London to bring together key partners delivering for young Londoners, and directly commission key programmes to address the most acute of these opportunity gaps. The Mayor will primarily act though a combination of limited direct delivery and by working with or via key partners.
2.2.    The objectives and expected outcomes of the programme are set out in the Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan which is appended as Appendix 2.
2.3.    The core London-level outcomes to which this programme will contribute are: children and young Londoners achieve the health and learning outcomes they need to thrive at every stage of development, and children and young Londoners have the positive opportunities needed to be successful, Londoners have the skills they need to improve their lives.
2.4.    The Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme will also make a substantive contribution to the London-level outcome that children and young Londoners are safe from harm. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and GLA must comply with the public sector equality duty (PSED) and must have due regard to the need to:
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.
3.2.    The ‘protected characteristics’ are: age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership (but only in respect of the requirements to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination), race (ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, and sexual orientation. 
3.3.    Consideration of the PSED is not a one-off task. The duty must be fulfilled before taking a decision, at the time of taking a decision, and after the decision has been taken, to ensure that equalities impacts are kept under ongoing review.
3.4.    The Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan helps achieve a number of the Mayor’s statutory equality objectives, and progress on delivery of these objectives is reported on each year in the Mayor’s Annual Equality Report.
3.5.    Activity within the Supporting and Inspiring Young London programme will provide support to disadvantaged children and young Londoners. This includes young people with protected characteristics and young people who are more vulnerable. Examples of disadvantaged groups that the projects within the programme will particularly support includes young people with SEND; young refugees and asylum seekers; those who are socio-economically disadvantaged; black, Asian and minority ethnic young Londoners; disabled young Londoners; young people with a social worker; young care leavers; and those who are risk of exclusion, or who have been excluded, from school or college. Careful consideration will be given to ensuring appropriate accessibility for the widest range of young people and this will include targeted engagement where considered supportive. Young people’s voice and co-production will be utilised in planning, development, and delivery to maximise effectiveness. 
3.6.    Supporting and Inspiring Young London projects, where already approved, have evidenced compliance with the PSED via the Decisions process, including the completion of Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) where relevant. A programme-wide EqIA is underway and will be kept under review to ensure that the PSED is complied with on an ongoing basis.
 

Risks and issues
4.1.    The following programme-level risks to the delivery of the SIYL programme have been identified:

4.2.    The Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport, as the SRO for the programme will be responsible for implementing and overseeing a risk framework for the programme. Project risks and mitigations will be managed as currently at a project level and reported periodically to the Programme Board. The Programme Board will also review the above programme-level risks and mitigations, reporting to Mayoral Delivery Board alongside progress against programme objectives as part of the GLA’s quarterly reporting regime. 
Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.3.    The programmes outlined in this decision support the following Mayoral strategies:
•    Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, as revised in the Mayor’s Equality Objectives (2022), which aims to remove the barriers preventing children and young Londoners from realising their potential now and in later life. 
•    London Health Inequalities Strategy, the Mayor’s ten-year strategy to address unfair, systematic and completely avoidable differences in health between groups of people. This includes the key commitments, Healthy Children – every London child has a healthy start in life, and Healthy Minds – all Londoners share in a city with the best mental health in the world. 
Consultations 
4.4.    For projects which already have a formal decision form in place, the consultation undertaken for these projects is set out in the relevant decision forms. 
4.5.    The level and timing of consultation will vary for those projects not requiring a subsequent formal decision form. This will be a mixture of informal consultation with key stakeholders, as well as formal consultation.  
4.6.    Where further Mayoral Decision forms will be required to progress the projects in the Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan, consultation will be undertaken where appropriate; this will be shaped through engagement with relevant stakeholders such as delivery partners, community stakeholders and advisory groups.
4.7.    There are no conflicts of interest arising from those involved in the drafting and clearance of this decision form. As and when individual conflicts of interest arise during the delivery of initiatives contained in the Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan, they will be handled in line with the GLA policy on registering and declaring interests.
 

5.1.    The programme budget is set out in the delivery plan and summarised in the table below:

5.2.    The budget allocated to this delivery plan presented in the GLA: Mayor budget 2025-26 approved on 31 March 2025 under MD3330 as below:

5.3.    Budget will be transferred between this programme and others in accordance with our governance processes, subject to Mayoral approval of this decision, as follows:

5.4.    The budget for the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) projects that support the work of this programme are below. These are funded by MOPAC.

5.5.    The budget set out at paragraph 5.1 reflects the net effect of the budget transfers and the funding from MOPAC for VRU projects.
5.6.    Any budget commitments for future years are subject to the annual budget setting process.
5.7.    Any future transfers and movements within the budget for this programme, or between this and other programmes, will be handled in accordance with the GLA’s governance processes.
 

6.1.    Under section 30(1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the GLA Act), the Mayor acting on behalf of the GLA has the power to do anything that he considers will further any one or more of the GLA’s principal purposes, which are:
•    promoting economic development and wealth creation in Greater London
•    promoting social development in Greater London
•    promoting the improvement of the environment in Greater London. 
6.2.    In deciding whether or how to exercise the power in section 30(1), section 30 (4) of the GLA Act requires the GLA to have regard to the effect which the proposed exercise of the power would have on:
•    the health of persons in Greater London
•    health inequalities between persons living in Greater London
•    the achievement of sustainable development in the UK
•    climate change, and the consequences of climate change. 
6.3.    Where the GLA exercises the power under section 30(1), pursuant to section 30(5) it must do so in the way which it considers best calculated to:
•    promote improvements in the health of persons in Greater London
•    promote the reduction of health inequalities between persons living in Greater London
•    contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
•    contribute towards the mitigation of, or adaptation to, climate change, in the United Kingdom.
6.4.    The GLA must also make arrangements with a view to securing that in the exercise of the power in section 30(1) there is due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people in accordance with section 33 of the GLA Act and consult with such bodies or persons as the GLA may consider appropriate in this particular case, in accordance with section 32 of the GLA Act. 
6.5.    Under section 34 of the GLA Act, the GLA, acting by the Mayor, the Assembly, or both jointly, may do anything that is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any functions of the GLA exercisable by the Mayor; or, as the case may be, by the Assembly, or by both acting jointly. The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s powers under section 30 and section 34 of the GLA Act. 
6.6.    Under section 38 of the GLA Act, any function exercisable by the Mayor on behalf of the GLA may also be exercised by a member of the GLA’s staff – albeit subject to any conditions that the Mayor sees fit to impose. To this end, the Mayor may make the requested delegation to the Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport, subject to the conditions and requirements set out in this Mayoral Decision. 
6.7.    Section 31 of the GLA Act places limits on the general power and prohibits the GLA from incurring expenditure on anything which may be done by TfL, MOPAC or the LFC.
6.8.    In taking the decisions requested of him, the Mayor must comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) contained in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.9.    If the Mayor makes the decisions sought, officers must also ensure that:
•    no reliance is placed on, nor commitments made in reliance of:
-    third party funding until legally binding commitments are secured for it and officers are satisfied that their proposed use of the same aligns with any conditions of award
-    future budgets remaining subject to the outcome of the budget setting process for future financial years, until those budget setting exercises are completed
-    “returned funding” without confirmation that it can be used as proposed and, where applicable, liaising with third party funders and varying current GLA funding agreements to reflect the reallocation of funding
•    where applicable, the Subsidy Control Act 2022 is observed
•    where expenditure concerns: 
-    purchase of services: they are procured in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code (the “Code”) and where applicable the Procurement Act 2023 (the “Act”); officers liaise with Transport for London’s procurement and supply chain team, which will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the Code and the Act; and put in place appropriate contractual documentation and ensure it is executed by the chosen service provider and GLA before the commencement of those services 
-    the award of grant funding such awards are made fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equalities requirements and with the requirements of GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and funding agreements are put in place between and executed by the GLA and recipients before any commitment to fund is made.
6.10.    If the Mayor makes the decisions sought, the Assistant Director, Civil Society and Sport, must comply with the obligations set out in The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 when taking decisions in accordance with the delegations set out in this decision form or any other delegations in existing Mayoral Decisions. In particular regulation 7 which provides that where a decision has been delegated to an officer either (a) under a specific express authorisation or (b) under a general authorisation and the effect of the decision is to award a contract or incur expenditure which, in either case, materially affects the GLA’s financial position, the officer to whom the delegation has been made must produce a written record of the decision (regulation 7(1) and (2)). Regulation 7(3) provides that the written record must be produced as soon as reasonably practicable after the decision has been taken and must contain the date the decision was taken, a record of the decision taken with reasons, details of options considered and rejected, if any, and where a decision is delegated under a specific express authorisation, any conflicts of interest. Regulation 8 requires the written record, together with any background papers, must as soon as reasonably practicable after the record is made, be made available for inspection by members of the public including on the GLA’s website.
 

7.1.    Timelines are as set out in the delivery plan appended as Appendix 2. 

Appendix 1 – Supporting and Inspiring Young London Mayoral mandate
Appendix 2 – Supporting and Inspiring Young London delivery plan