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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2018 to Question 135849, whether a delivery partner of the National Citizen Service programme is permitted to profit from their service delivery contracts.

DCMS does permit NCS delivery partners to profit from their service delivery contracts. However, driving down costs is a priority for the Department and we are working with NCS Trust to ensure value for money for the taxpayer. While, direct comparisons are not straightforward due to the unique nature of NCS, a recent independent benchmarking exercise, commissioned by the Department, indicates that the programme compares favourably to the costs of other similar programmes in the sector, and internationally.