Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all young people who wish to participate in the National Citizen Service are able to do so.
Answered by Rob Wilson
We are committed to expanding NCS, which is why the Chancellor announced our ambition that 300,000 young people participate in NCS every year by 2019/20 so that they can learn new skills and give back to their communities.
We take great care to ensure that all young people, regardless of background, can take part, providing bursaries and additional support where necessary.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to support small business access to public procurement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Central and North Ipswich on 1 July 2015 to UIN 900668.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what comparative assessment he has made of unemployment rates in the UK and other European countries in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the nature and the extent of voluntary work undertaken as part of the National Citizen Service in England.
Answered by Rob Wilson
Since 2011 over 130,000 young people have taken part in National Citizen Service (NCS), giving an estimated 3.2 million hours of volunteering to their communities. This has consisted of over 8,000 social action projects ranging from the renovation of community spaces, to charity fundraising events.
The independent evaluation of the NCS programme also demonstrates that it is creating a movement of young people who feel a greater responsibility towards their community and who are more likely to help out locally in the future.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what future plans he has for the National Citizen Service in the North East Hertfordshire constituency.
Answered by Rob Wilson
817 young people took part in National Citizen Service (NCS) in North East Hertfordshire and surrounding area in 2014.
This year will again see NCS programmes taking place in every local authority across England, giving more young people the opportunity to take part in this life changing programme.
The government is committed to giving as many young people as possible the chance to take part in NCS and the significant growth of that the programme has seen so far is set to continue this year.