Study questions National Citizen Service benefits

Analysis by Ipsos Mori into how the National Citizen Service (NCS) performed in 2014 raises questions over the value for money delivered by the government's flagship social action programme.

Researchers found the spring and autumn programmes delivered financial benefits that, at the lower end of estimates, were less than the cost of delivering them.

The spring 2014 programme, which cost £5.9m and reached 3,594 participants, was estimated to deliver social benefits of between £4.4m and £18.3m - equating to a benefit-to-cost ratio of between £0.75 and £3.11 for every £1 spent.

Meanwhile, the autumn programme, which cost £14.9m to deliver and had 9,777 participants, was estimated to have delivered social benefits valued at between £14.3m and £25.4m - equating to a benefit-to-cost ratio of between £0.96 and £1.71 for every £1 spent.

However, the summer programme - by far the largest of the three with 39,042 participants - cost £63.4m and was estimated to have delivered social benefits valued at between £70.8m and £252.6m, which equates to a benefit-to-cost ratio of between £1.12 and £3.98 for every £1 spent.

An NCS Trust spokesman says the figures show that all NCS programmes have a positive return on investment if measured using the middle range of the estimates.

He says: "Around 75 per cent of young people do NCS during the summer, and the central estimate for that programme shows a return of over £2 for every £1 spent, without even looking at the health benefits and other impacts.

"Ipsos Mori confirm that the return on investment for the 2014 NCS programmes is 'broadly in line' with those estimated for 2013, and that the estimated return on the summer 2013 programme has been maintained at a level of £2.65 even 16 months after participants have graduated."

The spokesman says the trust accepts the evaluations "do demonstrate the main summer programme is the most impactful" and for this reason it will focus future growth in that period, while running shorter programmes outside of the summer to accommodate all young people who wish to take part.

David Reed, director of social action umbrella body Generation Change, says a major factor in getting the best possible return from NCS is to ensure young people go on to do social action in the long term.

"We can see that a key driver behind the strong return on investment comes from the social action young people go on to do as a result of NCS, above and beyond what we see in the group," he says.

"This is where the return on investment is really going to come from - when we can show young people going on to tackle some of the country's most costly social challenges."

To that end, NCS says it is also encouraged by the impact the programme has had on broader issues like health, smoking and alcohol consumption. "When these are included, our return on investment for the NCS 2013 programme could be as high as £5.13 for every £1 spent, even 16 months after graduation," the spokesman adds.

To maximise returns and benefits, the trust believes its 300 local charities and community partners need to carry on "bringing NCS to life", and it encourages them to engage with other organisations so young people can gain a range of skills and experiences.

The spokesman adds: "Young people tell us how important our team leaders and mentors are in making their experience really special. So we are doing more than ever before to support our providers in training their team leaders to deliver a safe and meaningful programme for every young person.

"We also want to see more young people who have been through NCS come back and volunteer on the programme, as this can be really rewarding both for them and the next generation of NCS users. We know that our providers are working hard to make this happen."

Boosting resilience is key to completing the programme, say providers

The Ipsos Mori research shows one in 10 National Citizen Service (NCS) participants in 2014 left the programme without completing it. NCS Trust says this rate (52,413 of 57,789) is about the same as in 2013 (37,266 of 39,566).

"This represents a good rate of retention for a programme targeted at young people who will have a number of competing family, school-related and work commitments to manage," an NCS Trust spokesman says.

"There will always be unforeseen circumstances in personal lives that make it difficult to complete NCS or any similar commitment. In this case, we work with them to offer enrolment on future programmes."

Reed in Partnership is one of 10 regional providers for the programme that works across the East of England and the South West of England with local providers, which includes councils, colleges and organisations that support disadvantaged young people.

To secure and maintain the engagement of young people in the programme, Kelly Holder, NCS director at Reed in Partnership, says its aim is to ensure the maximum number of young people are made aware of the opportunities to them through the programme.

"We proactively recruit young people from all backgrounds and of all abilities - NCS is an inclusive programme and we constantly strive to ensure that nobody misses out," she says.

She adds the programme is designed around increasing the confidence, self-esteem and independence of young people, as well as boosting resilience so they will complete it.

Alistair Dale, manager at Bristol-based Your Moves and a local provider for Reed in Partnership, says its approach is built on the relationships staff have with young people and them being embedded in communities.

"We work with 1,000 young people every year and they recognise our staff and recommend our programmes," he says. "This makes signing them up much easier and reduces the risk of drop-outs."