The government has been “working to amend” participation targets for National Citizen Service (NCS), according to Rob Wilson, the minister for civil society.
Wilson was responding to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) earlier this month, which raised concerns about whether the scheme was capable of meeting its targets.
His comments come as the NCS Bill, which seeks to place the youth volunteering scheme on a statutory footing, continues its progress through Parliament.
In response to a question during the committee stage of the NCS Bill earlier this week, Wilson said: “One issue raised by the NAO report was that of targets. I have been looking at those over the past year to ensure that we are not, as the NAO said, focused only on targets.
“We will make an announcement about them in due course, because we have been working to amend them for some time."
The committee stage had been scheduled to take place over four days, but in the event MPs concluded their business in just one sitting. The bill has the support of both main parties, so MPs were able to conclude discussions earlier than expected.
Steve Reed, Labour’s shadow minister for civil society, said: “One of the problems with such a consensual bill is that I find myself in the happy position of agreeing with what the government are proposing. I am sorry that the Minister has had a lot of talking to do, but we are happy with the bill.”
Reed did introduce an amendment to ensure young people were included in the NCS' governance structure, but this was withdrawn after discussion. Reed said he would raise the issue with the NCS Trust before the third reading.
The bill now moves to the report stage. A date for this has not yet been set.
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