Nat. Community Service could now cost £50m


9:45 am - December 9th 2011

by Rizwan Syed    


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Earlier this year a report by the Education Select Committee said that a total of £37 million had been set aside by the government to fund a National Community Service programme, due to launch in 2012.

However, a Freedom of Information request by myself for Liberal Conspiracy has found that the estimated costs for this scheme has jumped by 35% to £50 million.

The same FOI response says the government is planning to use a “commercial process” to outsource the running of the NCS scheme. This potentially points to private, profit-driven companies running the National Community Service.

The involvement of private companies in running the NCS also hinders transparency on the project itself.

Information on funding for the NCS beyond 2012 was withheld from the FOI response.

Section 43 (2) protects information which would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).

Even Parliamentary Committees are having a tough time trying to find out more about the NCS.

An Education Select Committee report also said earlier the government’s response was “vague about public funding” for the NCS scheme.

Cost of providing the National Community Service places in 2012 now could be as high as £50m, admits the government in the FOI request.

FOI REQUEST RESPONSE

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About the author
Rizwan is a contributor to Liberal Conspiracy and a freelance journalist. He has also blogged for the Independent. He blogs at here
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Reader comments


1. Bob B

This news will surely upset those folk who just love the idea of young guys being made to march up and down to teach them a bit of discipline.

2. Leon Wolfson

@1 – Oh yes, because youth movements where people march up and down and act as one…

Oh yes, SUCH a GREAT history. No wonder you love the concept.

3. Bob B

I grew up living near Clapham Common in the 1940s and early 1950s before it became a fashionable residential place to live once more – in those years, nearby Streatham was much more fashionable: it was the Parliamentary constituency of Duncan Sandys, Churchill’s son-in-law.

In the late 18th century and early 19th century, Clapham village had been the home of Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect, Henry Thornton, the banker and friend of Ricardo, and Thomas Macaulay who coined the term the Fourth Estate to denote the press gallery reporting Parliament. By the late 19th century, the railways had turned Clapham into a regular London commuter suburb. By a court judgement in 1909 (?), Lord Justice Bowen created the notional “man on the Clapham omnibus” in a jury trial who needed to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt for a conviction.

The popular urban legend about conscription for National Service after WW2 at the time I lived in Clapham was that it fostered the development of yobs, spivs and Teddy Boys because of the gap years between leaving school at 15 and getting called up at 17½. That gap left early school leavers looking for temporary jobs to earn a bit of money before joining the army – anyone wanting to join the RAF had to first pass what amounted to an intelligence test.

Fortunately, after passing the RAF test I just managed to dodge National Service by getting a place at uni and then it got abolished – by Ted Heath – in my final year. At uni, several contemporaries had already done their National Service and they had some illuminating narratives to relate – such as cutting the grass with scissors (good for discipline), painting coal white (to stop it being nicked from the allocation for the heating stove in your hut), and sweeping the desert sand at a base in the Canal Zone into straight lines so it looked neat for a general inspection.

As best I could tell, National Service mostly instilled social values that were largely pernicious of civil values. Its abolition made excellent sense.

4. Leon Wolfson

Ah, well, I take my slam back then.

However. I argue strongly that school kids should have the option to spend a half-day a week volunteering. I myself during my A-levels opted out of the Wednesday afternoon sports at my school and volunteered at the hospital, which was FAR more valuable for me…

(These days you couldn’t do THAT as a 16-17 year old, but many charities can still use people that age for an afternoon a week!)


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Liberal Conspiracy

    EXCL: National Community Service cost up by 35% http://t.co/TihzOcnc

  2. sunny hundal

    EXCL: Govt admits est. cost of 'National Community Service' up by 35% (up to £50m now)! http://t.co/bDkYompH finds @riz205

  3. Shiv Malik

    EXCL: Govt admits est. cost of 'National Community Service' up by 35% (up to £50m now)! http://t.co/bDkYompH finds @riz205

  4. YourThurrock

    EXCL: Govt admits est. cost of 'National Community Service' up by 35% (up to £50m now)! http://t.co/bDkYompH finds @riz205

  5. David Whewell

    EXCL: National Community Service cost up by 35% http://t.co/TihzOcnc

  6. TeresaMary

    EXCL: Govt admits est. cost of 'National Community Service' up by 35% (up to £50m now)! http://t.co/bDkYompH finds @riz205

  7. David Whewell

    @CHYPSCEO RT @libcon EXCL: National Community Service cost up by 35% – http://t.co/L827GwDU

  8. Janet Graham

    EXCL: Govt admits est. cost of 'National Community Service' up by 35% (up to £50m now)! http://t.co/bDkYompH finds @riz205

  9. Alex Braithwaite

    EXCL: National Community Service cost up by 35% | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/fVVFoKsS via @libcon

  10. sunny hundal

    Our FOI: Govt plans to outsource 'National Community Service' too, and estimated costs now up to £50m http://t.co/bDkYompH

  11. Ferret Dave

    Our FOI: Govt plans to outsource 'National Community Service' too, and estimated costs now up to £50m http://t.co/bDkYompH

  12. Rachel McCormack

    Our FOI: Govt plans to outsource 'National Community Service' too, and estimated costs now up to £50m http://t.co/bDkYompH

  13. ray campbell

    Our FOI: Govt plans to outsource 'National Community Service' too, and estimated costs now up to £50m http://t.co/bDkYompH

  14. House Of Twits

    RT @sunny_hundal Our FOI: Govt plans to outsource 'National Community Service' too, and estimated costs now up to £50m http://t.co/hXYvDI5Q

  15. Neil Courtman

    Our FOI: Govt plans to outsource 'National Community Service' too, and estimated costs now up to £50m http://t.co/bDkYompH

  16. Brnch Sec Ruth H

    EXCL: Govt admits est. cost of 'National Community Service' up by 35% (up to £50m now)! http://t.co/bDkYompH finds @riz205

  17. Rizwan Syed

    EXCL: Govt admits est. cost of 'National Community Service' up by 35% (up to £50m now)! http://t.co/bDkYompH finds @riz205





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