Tories announce National Citizen Service for 16-year-olds

The service will involve young people taking part in a two-month summer programme consisting of outdoor activities and community projects undertaken by groups of young people from a range of social backgrounds. Part of the programme will be based on residential trips, as the service has been informed by pilots that have already taken place in London, Wales and the North West of England.

The first two years of the scheme will be funded by scrapping the Department of Communities and Local Government's community cohesion programme, with plans for further funding to be announced in autumn.

Announcing the plans at an event attended by actor Sir Michael Caine today, Tory leader David Cameron said: "It's a kind of non-military national service – a two-month programme for 16-year-olds to come together in common purpose. 

"It's going to mix young people from different backgrounds, different ethnicities and religions, in a way that doesn't happen right now. It's going to teach them what it means to be socially responsible by asking them to serve their communities."

The London pilots were based on a programme delivered by social reform organisation Shaftesbury Partnership, called The Challenge. The programme invited 16-year-olds to undertake challenges aimed at teaching leadership, management and communication skills. It saw young people embark on a series of challenging outdoor activities, before spending a week living together while working on projects such as movie-making and sports coaching.

A third and final week required the participants to come up with their own ideas for a challenge that makes a difference in local communities. An evaluation of The Challenge, commissioned by the Conservatives, found that the programme increased young people's trust in each other and engagement in "British life", according to the Tory's green paper on the service, published today.