National Body for Youth Work Delivery Board: terms of reference

The Cabinet Secretary for Education published a written statement in June 2025 to confirm that work will proceed to support the establishment of a National Body for Youth Work (NBYW) in Wales.

The overarching aim of the NBYW will be to provide strengthened strategic leadership and coordination across the youth work sector and to undertake other activities aimed at enhancing the youth work offer for young people across Wales.

The Delivery Board will provide leadership, strategic advice, challenge and insight to Welsh Government to support the establishment of the NBYW, including:

• detailed work regarding the role and remit of the NBYW
• considering how best practice in Wales and beyond can inform the development of a NBYW 
• considering the findings and recommendations of the review of funding for youth work in Wales, and how these should be fed into the NBYW’s work
• advising on the development of mechanisms to capture the views and experiences of stakeholders, including young people, and how these views and experiences inform the development of a NBYW
• advising on how best to ensure clear alignment between the NBYW and other relevant organisations
• advising on, and supporting work to, develop appropriate organisational, financial and governance structures 
• helping establish and shape sub-groups to draw on the expertise and perspectives of practitioners, young people and others
• carefully considering, reflecting upon and utilising, as appropriate, the findings and representations made by the sub-groups
• contributing to workstreams as deemed appropriate by the Chair and Delivery Board members

The Delivery Board may be supported by thematic ‘task and finish’ style sub-groups focusing on discrete areas of work to complement the Delivery Board’s discussions where required. Delivery Board members will help identify areas where such groups are needed and consider the evidence and insight they gather.

• It is an advisory body and as such must be bound by the reasonable expectations of such a body. It is important to recognise that the Delivery Board does not have any statutory powers or functions.
• The Delivery Board will advise the Welsh Government within the remit agreed for it by the Cabinet Secretary for Education.
• All sub-groups or task and finish groups will report to the Delivery Board.

The Delivery Board will meet approximately every eight weeks. There may be exceptions to this meeting frequency at the discretion of the Chair in discussion with Delivery Board members. It is envisaged that meetings will generally be held online. In-person meetings may be held on occasion if required. Meetings will align with the requirements of the Welsh Language Standards.

The Chair will determine the agenda, including papers required, for each meeting, taking into account any suggestions or requests from individual members. Welsh Government officials from the Learner Pathways Division will provide administrative support to the Delivery Board and will act as a central co-ordination point to distribute meeting materials and other documents.

Members will be expected to notify the Chair when there is a potential conflict of interest relating to a specific item on the agenda.

To ensure continuity, deputies will only be allowed to attend meetings in exceptional circumstances. Members will need prior agreement from the Chair to nominate a deputy to attend on their behalf.

The Delivery Board will require at least one third of members to be in attendance to be quorate.

Membership is unremunerated. Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by Delivery Board members for any in-person meetings will be reimbursed by the Learner Pathways Division, Welsh Government.

The terms of reference will be reviewed periodically to ensure they remain relevant and effective. The Cabinet Secretary for Education may amend the terms of reference as needed, in consultation with the Delivery Board.

It is envisaged that membership of the Delivery Board will be until such time as the National Body for Youth Work becomes operational. Membership of the Delivery Board will be reviewed periodically to ensure that it is fit for purpose. The Welsh Government may replace members or fill vacancies as necessary to maintain the Delivery Board’s effectiveness.

All members must adhere to confidentiality requirements regarding sensitive information. The Delivery Board will operate transparently, and a summary of non-confidential discussions will be made publicly available.