Serco to end National Citizen Service involvement
Laura McCardle
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
The largest provider of the National Citizen Service (NCS) is to pull out of delivering the flagship volunteering programme.
Private services provider Serco, which led a consortium of youth organisations that delivered services in nearly a third of all NCS regions, has confirmed that it has not reapplied to deliver NCS over the next three-year bidding period covering 2015 to 2018.
The decision means Serco will end its involvement in the scheme in September 2015, after next year's summer NCS schemes have ended.
The outsourcing firm has not given a reason for its decision to withdraw from the programme.
The NCS Network – made up of Serco, UK Youth, Catch22, National Youth Agency (NYA) and vInspired – was appointed for six of the available 19 regional contracts to deliver NCS in 2013 and 2014 by the Cabinet Office in September 2012.
The consortium was the largest provider of NCS and was responsible for delivering the programme in the West Midlands, the North West, the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and two areas in the South East region.
The NCS Network will disband next year as a result of Serco’s decision to withdraw from delivering the volunteering programme.
However, a shortlist of the 17 organisations bidding to deliver NCS from 2015 to 2018, published by NCS Trust yesterday, reveals that NYA and vInspired have formed a new partnership and are competing to run new regional contracts. Neither UK Youth nor Catch22 featured on the new shortlist.
NCS Trust confirmed that bids to deliver NCS from 2015 to 2018 from seven organisations were turned down.
It is unclear whether UK Youth and Catch22 decided to withdraw from delivering NCS or if they were among the seven organisations whose applications weren't taken forward.
A UK Youth spokeswoman said: "Our lead partner Serco pulled out and thus our whole partnership is now not involved in the delivering of NCS in those regions."
Catch22's chief executive Chris Wright said: “Catch22 remains fully committed to the NCS programme, its values and the great work it does for young people.
"As a partner, we support the Network’s decision not to re-tender for the 2015-2018 NCS contract but will continue to provide delivery of the NCS programme in several regions both in our own right and working with partners to ensure young people continue to benefit from this significant and valuable program.”
