National Citizen Service inquiry

National Citizen Service (NCS) has had some early successes but it is too soon to assess its long-term impact, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO). Young people have been positive about the NCS experience, with 84% of participants in 2015 saying they would recommend NCS to others. External evaluations on how … Show more

National Citizen Service (NCS) has had some early successes but it is too soon to assess its long-term impact, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO). Young people have been positive about the NCS experience, with 84% of participants in 2015 saying they would recommend NCS to others. External evaluations on how a sample of young people feel and perceive themselves three to five months and 16 months after the programme also show NCS has an initial positive impact on participants. It is too early to say, however, whether the programme is going to meet its long-term objectives of contributing to a more responsible, cohesive and engaged society. NCS has grown rapidly since the programme was piloted in 2011 and 2012, and an estimated 93,000 16- and 17-year-olds took part in NCS in 2016. Participation in NCS is not, however, increasing as fast as the Office for Civil Society (OCS) or the NCS Trust hoped, with none of the annual participation targets being met since 2010. If the number of participants continues to increase at the current annual rate of 23%, there would be 213,000 participants in 2020–21 against an aim of 360,000. According to the NAO report, the OCS and the Trust can do more to overcome the barriers to participation. Funding has been available for all those who want to participate in NCS, with the government committing £1.26bn of grant funding between 2016–20, but young people do not attend for a range of reasons. National Audit Office report According to the NAO report, the OCS and Trust have not, so far, prioritised reducing costs, although the Trust told the NAO that reducing costs is now one of four main priorities. The NAO report found that the cost per participant to date has been higher than anticipated and needs to fall. Funding made available as part of the autumn 2015 spending review implied a unit cost of £1,562 per participant in 2016. The OCS and Trust currently expect to spend £1,863 for each of the 93,000 participants to complete the programme in 2016. The cost per participant needs to fall by 29% to £1,314 in 2019 for the Trust to provide 300,000 places and stay within the funding envelope. A focus on growth also encouraged the Trust to use certain media channels, such as television, in addition to social media. It also led the Trust to pay providers an estimated £10 million, in line with the contract, for places that were not filled. Show less