Conservative conference: Hurd seeks accreditation for youth scheme participants

Speaking at a Conservative party conference fringe event organised by the British Youth Council, Nick Hurd told delegates that he is keen for young people to be rewarded for taking part in personal development opportunities, adding that government is making “a serious effort” to better join up the work of NCS with other youth programmes.

“The evidence that we have is that the NCS is having a very powerful effect on young people, making them more connected to their communities and more work-ready,” Hurd said.

“What we want to do now is look at ways of linking NCS with all the other youth programmes out there that exist to help stretch and develop young people in this country.

“As part of that we need to develop a better system for rewarding and accrediting young people who go from programme to programme doing fantastic things. For the first time we are making a serious effort to make better connections between the programmes that are out there.”

Hurd argued that young people who take part in NCS and other youth development programmes should be able to include the details of their achievements on their CV and know that it “counts” for something.

He added that schemes such as NCS are part of the solution to tackling youth unemployment, but admitted that more needs to be done to address the stubbornly high number of young people not in employment, education or training.

“We introduced NCS to a group of 50 employers, because we wanted them to understand what it was and what it meant to see it on a CV,” Hurd said.

“One of the top managers at Boots said they were really interested in the scheme. He said that the company was not just looking for young people with good grades – although they matter – he said they were looking for what he described as ‘character’.

“That’s why programmes that help develop young people’s skills, confidence and self-esteem are hugely important as part of the mix.”