The procurement process for the National Citizen Service opens in September, with local organisations invited to bid to deliver services.
The NCS Trust, the organisation that leads the government’s flagship volunteering programme, has today announced its plans to deliver “NCS 2.0” which it says will bring the NCS Trust “closer to local communities and frontline organisations - while reaching more young people, delivering more impact and improving value for money”.
The trust said that this plan will be delivered through an “ambitious recommissioning exercise” which will select partners to delivers the NCS. It said that this process will improve value for money by removing management layers and duplications.
The trust said that new provider contracts will be in place by July 2019, for seasonal delivery in 2020. The length of all new contracts will be for an initial term of three years, with a potential for this to be extended for up to two years.
From 2020 there will be a new “direct” model of delivery in London, the South West and the North East of England, in which the trust will contract directly with local delivery partners.
The other six English regions will use an indirect model - an improved version of the current network structure, in which NCS contracts with regional managing partners, who in turn contract with delivery partners.
Attract more local organisations
The revised model will expand the network of partners delivering the NCS, the trust said, as well as increasing its connections with many other bodes.
The NCS is currently delivered by more than 100 organisations, including 50 youth organisations, 43 sports clubs, and eight councils. The trust said that NCS 2.0 will "build the delivery of the programme from the bottom up", encouraging more local organisations to become part of the NCS network, and allowing them to benefit from the funding available.
It said that organisations which are awarded contracts will use this investment to “enrich the impact NCS has on young people and their wider communities”.
Michael Lynas, chief executive of NCS Trust, said: “NCS has achieved so much already, by helping to change the lives of nearly 500,000 teenagers, but we are ambitious for the future. We have a vision for NCS 2.0 that allows us to reach more young people and deliver greater value, by putting great, local organisations in the driving seat.
“In order to bring this vision to life, we need more amazing organisations to step up and join us in our crucial work to empower the next generation to be their best.”
Information on the procurement structure will be available electronically from mid-September here.
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