Youth charity The Challenge goes into administration

Chairman of The Challenge, Bill Roland, announced this week that the charity has appointed an administrator after a £60m-a-year contract with the NCS Trust came to an end.

Roland launched a scathing attack on the NCS Trust, the Royal Charter body that co-ordinates the programme.

He said: “Those charged with oversight of NCS provision have failed many hundreds of dedicated colleagues and jeopardised many thousands of opportunities for young people. It is nothing short of a national scandal."

Roland added that the appointment of an administrator follows five months of discussions with the trust and government.

He said that “throughout [talks] The Challenge and its team have sought to resolve certain significant issues created by NCS Trust that were having a materially negative impact upon The Challenge’s ability to deliver NCS provision to young people across the UK”.

“We made this difficult decision with great sadness and considerable anger at the manner in which The Challenge has been forced into it.

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“It has been a testing time for everyone at The Challenge. I would like to confirm how extremely grateful I am to each and every member of the team who has worked tirelessly to bring about our vision: an integrated society where there is an understanding and appreciation of each other’s differences,” Roland added.

The Challenge, which employs 210 people, launched a legal claim against the NCS Trust after losing the contract in August.

It was one of the major suppliers of NCS programmes, which were launched by the coalition government in 2010 to offer government-backed activity programmes to 15- to 17-year-olds. 

During 2017 around 45,000 young people took part in programmes run by the charity or local providers.

Charity Commission records show that The Challenge is 28 days overdue on providing financial information within 10 months of the end of its financial year.

An NCS Trust spokesman said the charity’s decision not to sign contracts from 2020 was “the main catalyst for the resulting problems it has faced”.

“Although a very sad day, NCS Trust is simply not responsible for The Challenge entering administration.

“NCS Trust has been working tirelessly right up until today to negotiate a way forward with The Challenge, including the offer of a board-to-board meeting that was refused,” the spokesman said.

The NCS Trust said “all money has been paid to The Challenge for the delivery of its places this summer and autumn”.

It added that it had secured “world-class suppliers” to take on the scheme so “no young people will miss out”.

“In addition, we will do what we can to assist staff and suppliers of The Challenge. Challenge staff eligible for transfer to other suppliers have done so under the TUPE process.

“To suggest there is a failure of oversight in NCS provision is utter nonsense.

“It is the job of NCS Trust to deliver its programme safely and at the best possible cost to the taxpayer,” the spokesman added.