First announced by David Cameron at the party's conference last year, the voluntary initiative would see young people spending six weeks on Outward Bound challenges and community work ending with a graduation-type ceremony.
But at a fringe meeting at this year's conference in Manchester, fears were again raised over how the scheme might be funded and staffed.
Shaks Ghosh, chief executive of the Private Equity Foundation, warned against an over-reliance on volunteers saying the programme needed to be properly staffed to be effective.
"Let's not go for the cheap option we have to be realistic that this is a huge cost to the nation," she said. "Especially for those young people that are from particularly difficult backgrounds you are going to need professional staff."
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