Youth minister prioritises reducing unfilled NCS places

Crouch has confirmed that £9,781,587 handed to providers in 2016 on places that were not filled cannot be recouped because the money was spent on "upfront costs".

But she said action has been taken to ensure unfilled places are kept to a minimum this year. This includes changes to the performance framework of the NCS Trust, which manages the service, to include a focus on filling places.

In addition, the trust is to improve the way it commissions provision to ensure it is better aligned to demand.

Crouch made the pledge in response to a parliamentary question from Labour's shadow youth minister Cat Smith.

"Reducing the number of unfilled places is a priority for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to deliver better value for money," said Crouch.

"We have reflected this in the NCS Trust's performance framework and NCS Trust are improving their commissioning model to allow participation volumes to flex throughout the year in response to demand and reduce the number of unfilled places."

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In total, £10m was spent in 2016 on unfilled NCS places, but according to the Treasury, the government was only able to recover £218,000 from providers.

Smith also asked Crouch if providers commissioned by the trust were allowed to profit from their contracts. Crouch confirmed that they are, but insisted providing value for money was a priority.

"DCMS does permit NCS delivery partners to profit from their service delivery contracts," Crouch said. "However, driving down costs is a priority for the department and we are working with NCS Trust to ensure value for money for the taxpayer.

"While direct comparisons are not straightforward due to the unique nature of NCS, a recent independent benchmarking exercise, commissioned by the department, indicates that the programme compares favourably to the costs of other similar programmes in the sector, and internationally."

Speaking to CYP Now after Crouch published her response, Smith said: "The NCS provides great opportunities for young people, but we cannot allow this government to turn a blind eye to its failings.

"The government has written off huge sums of money for unfilled places and it is extremely concerning that ministers have no detailed plan on how this could be avoided in the future.

"At time of devastating cuts to youth services, the public need to know that the significant investment NCS receives is spent effectively."

Last month, it emerged that the NCS accounted for 95 per cent of the government's direct spend on youth services. Between 2014/15 to 2017/18, £668m was spent on youth programmes, with £634m of this on the NCS.

In May, the campaign group In Defence of Youth Work called for the flagship social action programme for 15- to 17-year-olds to be scrapped or slimmed down, with its funding used to revive local youth provision.

A trust spokesman said: "Delivering value for money and operating efficiently are embedded in NCS Trust's financial arrangements. Last year, alongside our network of delivery partners, we achieved our highest annual participation number to date, with nearly 100,000 young people participating in the NCS programme and only about two per cent of places unfilled.

"We take our responsibilities with public funds very seriously, and are committed to developing new and innovative solutions to continue reducing the number of unfilled places."