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National Citizen Service (NCS)
Formation2011
TypeRoyal Charter
Legal statusTrust
PurposePersonal and social development
CEO
Mark Gifford[1]
Chair of NCS Trust
Harris Bokhari OBE[1]
Websitehttps://wearencs.com/

National Citizen Service, also known as the NCS, is a Government-funded[2] personal and social development program in England available for 16-17 year olds. The scheme is run by the NCS Trust, a public body for youth and a key component of the Government's National Youth Guarantee. Since being founded by David Cameron in 2009, NCS has provided around one million away-from-home youth development activities to 16 and 17-year-olds.[3]

The scheme will shut down in March 2025, following an announcement from Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.[4]

History

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The programme was designed and piloted in 2009 by social integration charity the Challenge. It was formally announced in 2010 by Prime Minister David Cameron as part of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government's Big Society initiative, and it was launched in 2011. When the scheme was launched critics expected it to be an unpopular and unsuccessful non-military version of national service. Subsequently, however, it achieved cross-party support in Parliament.

After the 2015 general election, the programme was continued under the Conservative government. In October 2016 Cameron, who had resigned as Prime Minister, became chairman of the NCS Trust's patrons' board. In the 2016 Queen's Speech it was announced that the scheme would be made permanent through the National Citizen Service Bill which was then introduced into the House of Lords by Lord Ashton of Hyde. The bill received Royal Assent in April 2017 and the resulting National Citizen Service Act created a statutory framework for the programme.

The scheme was made permanent through the National Citizen Service Act 2017. With cross-party support, NCS became a Royal Charter Body in 2018.

In 2019, NCS created a network of Management and Delivery Partners for the 16 and 17-year-olds who take part in NCS. A Youth Voice Forum was also introduced, which won the Youth Friendly Employer Awards for Youth Voice in 2021.[citation needed] In 2023 the Youth Voice Forum grew into the Youth Advisory Board with 12 paid members aged between 18 and 24.[citation needed]

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the NCS provided digital programmes.[citation needed] However, setting the NCS up at arm’s length, because its users were likely to distrust a government programme, contributed to a lack of financial control in its early years. The Institute for Government concluded that governance arrangements must be prioritised when a public body is established, so they must be correct from the off; independence and accountability should be carefully calibrated and any legislation, in particular, should be sufficiently flexible so as not to require updating for many years.[5]

In 2023-24 NCS provided away-from home youth development activities to 178,000 16 and 17-year-olds,[6] through a supply chain of over 300 frontline youth organisations.[citation needed]

In November 2024, it was announced that the programme would be wound down from March 2025 as part of the new Labour government's National Youth Strategy.[7]

Services

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Multiple programmes take place throughout the year in which 16 and 17-year-olds can choose to be part of an Away from Home experience, a Community Experience or a Digital Experience.

  • In the Away from Home experience, groups of 16 and 17-year-olds undertake a residential visit, usually to an activity centre for an outdoor education-style course involving physical and team building activities.
  • In the Community Experiences choice, 16 and 17-year-olds participate in local youth activities through NCS’ grant-funded partners.[which?]
  • The Digital Experiences choice offers online activities, such as broadcast media.

The National Citizen Service (NCS) also works with a number of partners[which?] to deliver wider youth enrichment and work opportunities.

Finances

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The expenditure on the scheme in 2012 was estimated at £1,400 per individual and the scheme received almost half the Office for Civil Society's total budget in 2013. The numbers who took part in the scheme were 26,000 in 2012, 40,000 in 2013, 57,000 in 2014, 75,000 in 2015, 93,000 in 2016[8] and nearly 99,000 in 2017 meaning one in six eligible 16 and 17-year-olds participated.[9]

In January 2017 the National Audit Office reported that the NCS had "weaknesses" in governance and had "not prioritised cost control". It estimated that just 213,000 people would be participating in the programme in 2020–21, compared to a target of 360,000. The report suggested costs would have to be reduced by 29% in order to meet participation targets.[10]

In March 2017 the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons said that the high cost of the scheme could not be justified and its participation targets remained challenging despite being significantly reduced. The total expenditure committed to the scheme by the government between 2011/12 and 2019/20 is £1.5 billion. £600 million of this had been spent by April 2017, with £900 million of the expenditure remaining.[11] Research carried out in the spring of 2017 indicated that affluent individuals are less likely to attend university if they take part in NCS, while poorer individuals are more likely to do so. At that time the cost per participant of NCS was £1,863.[12]

In July 2018 the Minister for Sport and Civil Society Tracey Crouch said that in 2016 NCS had spent almost £10m on places which were never filled. In August 2018 the Local Government Association said that in 2016 the number of 16 and 17-year-olds taking part in NCS amounted to 12% of those eligible, and suggested that some of the money could be more effectively spent on local council youth services, spending on which fell from £650 million in 2010–11 to £390 million in 2016–17. [13] Over the four years from 2014–5 to 2017–18 UK government spending on NCS was £634 million which accounted for 95% of all UK government spending on youth services.[14]

In the four years from 2019 NCS funding dropped by 69%.[15]

Delivery

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The programme is delivered through a number of Regional Delivery Partners (RDPs) and Local Delivery Partners (LDPs). The government has the power to promote the scheme by sending letters to 16 and 17-year-olds as they turn 16 on behalf of the Trust.[11] Current Regional Delivery Partners for NCS are listed on their Web site, and have included[16] APM,[17] The EBP,[18]English Football League Trust,[19] Ingeus, Inspira,[20] Inspired Education and the National Youth Agency.

A supply chain of over 100 organisations is involved in delivering the NCS. Each RDP is responsible for its team of LDPs and their delivery.

In Wales

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A pilot scheme took place in Wales in 2014 and a report examining whether it duplicates or complements existing schemes was commissioned. Cameron urged the Welsh Government to consider taking up the scheme and offering it across Wales.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "NCS Trust Board of Directors". NCS. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  2. ^ "National Citizen Service". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  3. ^ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/665069c7c86b0c383ef64f72/NCS_Trust_Annual_Business_Plan_WEB.pdf
  4. ^ https://uk.news.yahoo.com/government-announces-end-national-citizen-142534036.html Retrieved November 12 2024
  5. ^ "How to set up a public body" (PDF). Institute for Government. November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  6. ^ "NCS Trust publishes its Annual Business Plan 2024/25 | NCS". wearencs.com. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  7. ^ "New National Youth Strategy to break down barriers to opportunity for young people". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  8. ^ Theo Merz (30 Apr 2014). "National Citizen Service: training the citizens of tomorrow". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  9. ^ NCS (2017). NCS Trust Annual Report (PDF) (Report). p. 3.
  10. ^ Lepper, Joe (13 January 2017). "National Citizen Service initiative 'costs too much', spending watchdog warns". Children & 16 and 17-year-olds Now.
  11. ^ a b Andy Ricketts (28 April 2017). "National Citizen Service legislation given royal assent". Third Sector.
  12. ^ Jess Staufenberg (28 May 2017). "Affluent pupils less likely to go to university if they do National Citizen Service". Schools Week.
  13. ^ Peter Walker (2 August 2018). "Cameron's £1.5bn 'big society' youth scheme reaching few teenagers". The Guardian.
  14. ^ Buchan, Lizzy (2 August 2018). "Council leaders condemn massive funding of David Cameron's citizenship scheme, while youth services slashed". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18.
  15. ^ Legraien, Léa. "National Citizen Service Trust's income dropped by 69% in four years". Civil Society.
  16. ^ "Network Providers". NCS. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Say yes to NCS!". APM UK. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  18. ^ "NCS". The EBP. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  19. ^ "English Football League Trust". EFL Trust. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  20. ^ "National Citizen Service". Inspira. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  21. ^ "David Cameron praises National Citizen Service on Wales visit". BBC News. Wales. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
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