In his speech on Wednesday (27 October), Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced an overall pot of £560m to support the continuation of the NCS and “provide up to 300 youth facilities through the Youth Investment Fund”.
A breakdown of the fund by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport reveals that just £173m will be granted to the NCS over three years – a much lower allocation of funding compared with previous spending reviews.
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Analysis: NCS boss sets out plans to expand scheme
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Interview: Mark Gifford, National Citizen Service chief executive
The organisation, which was created by former Prime Minister David Cameron more than a decade ago, received £158m in government grants in 2020 and was granted £100m for 2020/21 in last year’s one-year spending review.
Despite the drop in funding, the NCS told CYP Now that it was “in line with our submission to government and reflects our continued focus on reducing costs, improving impact and delivering further value for money for the taxpayer and crucial life skills for young people across the country”.
In an interview with CYP Now in May, NCS chief executive Mark Gifford revealed plans to change the direction of the initiative to a “year-round” offer in place of its residential programmes for 16- to 17-year-olds.
Gifford said the move would allow the NCS to bid for “significantly less” funding from the next CSR, adding that the move could see the number of young people involved in the programme doubled, from 600,000 in 2019, on a “much smaller budget”.
Further information from DCMS shows that of the £560m pledged in the CSR for youth services £368m will be used to fund up to 300 youth centres across England including Scout huts, youth centres and activity centres through the Youth Investment Fund while a further £20m will be invested in youth services in England.
“The government will set out more detail in due course,” a statement said.
