The National Citizen Service (NCS) Trust cut 20% of its workforce last year as the charity received less government funding, the charity has confirmed.
A freedom of information request sent by Civil Society to NCS Trust last month revealed that the organisation shed 43 full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs in the year to March 2023.
NCS Trust said that the reason for the reduction is “a reduced funding envelope provided by the government for the three years 2023-25”.
Its business plan for 2023-24, published last month, shows that its grant-in-aid from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport fell to its lowest level since 2019, from £158.6m to £49.2m.
NCS Trust said that it went through “significant organisational restructuring” to be able to deliver its new offer, adding that “tough decisions” regarding headcount had to be made due to reduced central costs.
Fewer FTE employees
Annual reports and business plans show that the number of FTE staff at NCS Trust has fluctuated in recent years.
Indeed, in 2019-20 it had 229 FTE employees and 233 in 2020-21, with total staff costs reducing from £14.4m to £13.7m.
In 2021-22, NCS Trust had 20 fewer FTE employees (213) than the previous year while staff costs were £12.4m.
Last year, it employed 170 FTE staff. NCS Trust said that its accounts for 2022-23 will be published later this year but confirmed that “the staff cost will be lower than previous years”.
A spokesperson for NCS Trust said: “NCS is focused on controlling costs and driving better value for money for taxpayers. Our annual report 2021-22 shows we reduced costs by 45% and this trend continued into 2022-23 and this financial year. Reducing central costs has required us to make some tough decisions regarding headcount.
“Despite this, the Trust is proud that the numbers of young people experiencing NCS have increased and this year we expect a record number of young people will be supported to become world ready and work ready.”
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