Youth minister calls for NCS expansion across entire UK
Adam Offord
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Youth minister Rob Wilson has called for the government's flagship National Citizen Service (NCS) programme to be expanded into Scotland and Wales.
Responding to a question in parliament on government plans to increase the number of participants on the programme, Wilson said he wants NCS to benefit all young people across the UK.
“We have ambitious plans to make NCS a rite of passage for young people,” he said.
??“We have committed more than £1bn to grow the programme to reach the majority of 16-year-olds by 2021 and we would like NCS to benefit every young person, regardless of where they live in the UK.
??“It is therefore extremely disappointing that there is currently no NCS programme in Scotland or Wales, despite the generous funding made available through the autumn spending review.”??
Currently the NCS programme is available to 15- to 17-year-olds in England and Northern Ireland. ?
??Spending review documents do not detail specific money for NCS to be expanded to Scotland and Wales, but do show that overall government funding for the devolved administrations is set to increase by £200m in Scotland from £25.9bn in 2015/16 to £26.1bn in 2016/17, and in Wales by £100m from £12.9bn in 2015/16 to £13bn in 2016/17.
?Wilson also defended the programme over claims it mostly reaches the most affluent communities and not young people from poorer backgrounds. ??He said 200,000 young people have been through the NCS programme so far.??
“We are doing extremely well on diversity: 21 per cent of NCS participants are eligible for free school meals compared with the national average of eight per cent and 27 per cent of participants are from non-white backgrounds, compared with 19 per cent throughout the country,” he said.??
“We are therefore doing better than the national average.”??
The youth minister also expressed how “disappointed” he is that local authorities are choosing to make cuts to their youth service provision.
??Data published by the Department for Education at the end of last year found spending on youth services fell from £712m in 2013/14 to £627m in 2014/15.?
??He said the majority of the the £1bn investment into NCS over this parliament will flow through delivery organisations, most of which are public or voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.??
“We are also investing more widely in the youth sector through programmes such as Step Up To Serve and the British Youth Council, and supporting local authorities to reshape their youth provision,” he added.??
The Scottish Government and the Welsh Government have been contacted for comment. ?
