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National Citizen Service initiative 'costs too much', spending watchdog warns

The government's flagship National Citizen Service (NCS) initiative is over budget and failing to attract enough young people, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO). 

The NAO found that while government funding covers £1,562 spending per participant in the social action programme, the actual cost for each of the 93,000 15- to 17-year-olds taking part during 2016 was £1,862.

To stay within budget, the NAO says costs need to fall by 29 per cent to £1,314 per young person by 2019.

A failure to meet participation targets was also highlighted as a major concern. In 2016, five of the nine providers "significantly missed" these targets and since 2010, none of the annual participation targets have been met.

If the current annual rate of increase is sustained, there would be only 213,000 participants in 2020/2021, significantly short of the 360,000 target for that year.

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