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The National Citizen Service (NCS) is a voluntary personal and social development programmer for 15–17 year olds in England and
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, funded largely by money from the
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. It was formally announced in 2010 by
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is n ...
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
as part of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government's Big Society initiative, and it was launched in England in 2011. 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. The scheme was made permanent through the National Citizen Service Act 2017.


Description

The programme takes place in the spring, summer or autumn coinciding with school holidays. Groups of teenagers undertake a residential visit, usually to an activity centre for an
outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or journey wilderness-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges and ou ...
-style course in the countryside involving physical and
team building Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combine of business ...
activities. After this, participants undertake a residential phase, gaining a taste of independent living and learning a variety of skills for their future. In the third (and sometimes fourth) phase, participants plan and deliver a "social action" project in their local community, often to raise awareness of or fundraise for a particular cause. Those completing the course receive a certificate at a graduation ceremony. The certificate is signed by the Prime Minister in office at the time of graduation. From 2013 onwards, participants have paid £50 each to take part in the scheme, although there are bursaries for those from low-income households.


History

The programme was designed and piloted in 2009 by social integration charity The Challenge, which remains the largest provider of the programme. It was formally announced in 2010 by
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is n ...
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
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 National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...
. Subsequently, however, it achieved cross-party support in
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
. 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 The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in ...
by Lord Ashton of Hyde. The bill received
Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
in April 2017 and the resulting National Citizen Service Act created a statutory framework for the programme as part of a £1.26 billion investment programme. By the end of 2018 more than 400,000 young people had completed the NCS programme.


Finances

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 and nearly 99,000 in 2017 meaning one in six eligible teenagers participated. 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. In March 2017 the Public Accounts Committee of the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
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. 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. In July 2018 the
Minister for Sport and Civil Society The Minister for Sport and Civil Society was a junior minister in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for sport and Civil Society in England. In 2020, the role merged with tha ...
Tracey Crouch Tracey Elizabeth Anne Crouch (born 24 July 1975) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chatham and Aylesford since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, she gained the seat from Labour's Jonathan S ...
said that in 2016 NCS had spent almost £10m on places which were never filled. In August 2018 the
Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association.   The LGA is p ...
said that in 2016 the number of young people 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. 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.


Delivery

The National Citizen Service is administered by the NCS Trust. The National Citizen Service Act 2017 enabled the staff and assets of the NCS Trust, a community interest company, to transfer to a
royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...
body. Under the legislation, the government is allowed to provide grant-in-aid funding to the NCS trust. The trust is required to publish business plans, accounts and annual reports and the National Audit Office is the trust's auditor. The government has the power to promote the scheme by sending letters to young people as they turn 16 on behalf of the Trust. The programme is delivered through a number of Regional Delivery Partners (RDPs) and Local Delivery Partners (LDPs). The following organisations are current Regional Delivery Partners for NCS: * APM * The EBP *
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Trust * Ingeus * Inspira * Groundwork * Reed in Partnership * Twin Training Group * vInspired 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

A pilot scheme took place in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2 ...
in 2014 and a report examining whether it duplicates or complements existing schemes was commissioned. Cameron urged the
Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...
to consider taking up the scheme and offering it across Wales.


References


External links

* {{Department for Culture, Media and Sport 2011 establishments in England Programmes of the Government of the United Kingdom Youth in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2011