Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to end the National Citizen Service on the number of (a) volunteering and (b) training opportunities available to young people.

NCS programmes will continue to be delivered as planned up until March 2025. The new youth strategy will guide our transition over the next year, and we are committed to supporting young people throughout this process to mitigate any adverse impacts of the closure of NCS. Our priority is co-producing this new strategy with young people to understand how we can best support them moving forward. While the strategy is being developed, there are opportunities available for young people to access training and volunteering opportunities through other DCMS funded programmes such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award and the #iwill fund. Next financial year, we are increasing the total funding for other DCMS youth programmes which support young people’s access to opportunities, including volunteering and training opportunities, as well as local authorities’ capacity to provide an impactful offer for young people.