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National Citizen Service Act 2017

Contents

Commentary on provisions of Act

Part 1: National Citizen Service Trust

Section 1: National Citizen Service Trust

  1. Section 1 refers to the NCS Trust, the body that will be established by the Charter. It describes the Trust’s functions, which are the functions to be conferred on it by article 3 of the Charter.

Section 2 and Schedule 1: Transfer schemes

  1. Section 2 introduces Schedule 1, which confers power on the Secretary of State to make a scheme providing for the transfer of the staff, property, rights and liabilities of the Company to the NCS Trust. This allows the Secretary of State, once the Trust has come into existence, to transfer the business and assets of the Company to the Trust. This is intended to allow an orderly transfer, which will preserve continuity and, where appropriate, protect the rights of NCS staff and interested third parties.
  2. Under paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 the Secretary of State must consult those likely to be affected by a transfer scheme and have regard to the results of the consultation.

Section 3: Finance

  1. Section 3 gives the Secretary of State the power to fund the NCS Trust through grants out of money provided by Parliament.

Section 4: Accounts and audit

  1. Section 4 sets out the accounting and audit requirements to which the NCS Trust is subject. It requires that the Trust’s accounts must be examined by the National Audit Office and laid before Parliament.

Section 5: Business plan

  1. Section 5 places a requirement on the NCS Trust to publish and lay before Parliament an annual business plan setting out its main priorities and activities for the year ahead. This will provide a yardstick against which government, Parliament and the public can assess the Trust’s performance.

Section 6: Annual report

  1. Section 6 requires the NCS Trust to give the Secretary of State an annual report, detailing the extent to which it has met its strategic priorities for the year. The annual report must also address the quality of the Trust’s programmes, amongst other matters. This is intended to enable effective monitoring of the Trust’s performance from one year to the next. Combined with the business plan, this ensures government, Parliament and the public have oversight of how far the Trust has achieved its objectives for the year.

Section 7: Notification of financial difficulties and criminal conduct

  1. Section 7 requires the NCS Trust to notify the Secretary of State promptly if: (a) anyone supplying the Trust with goods or services to support the Trust’s main functions is in serious financial difficulty or in breach of contract with serious consequences for the Trust; (b) a member of staff of the Trust or one of its suppliers commits fraud or is in breach of his or her employment contract with serious consequences for the Trust, or (c) there is a police investigation into an allegation of criminal conduct by a member of staff of the NCS Trust or one of its providers, where that investigation could have serious consequences for the NCS Trust.
  2. This is intended to ensure the government is kept informed of anything that poses a serious risk to delivery of the programme or the performance of the Trust. It does not require notification of, for example, minor breaches of contract or breaches of contract by suppliers providing goods or services that do not directly support the Trust’s main functions, such as cleaning or stationery providers.

Section 8: Fees

  1. The Company currently charges a small fee for attendance on its programmes. The fee does not represent the cost of the programmes; it is an incentive to ensure attendance. Section 8 enables the NCS Trust to continue this practice if appropriate.

Section 9: HMRC functions

  1. Section 9 allows HMRC to assist the NCS Trust in performing its function of promoting its programmes by sending out communications to young people and their parents and carers. The communications may contain information about the Trust’s work and invite the young people concerned to participate in NCS programmes. The Trust must determine the content of the communications. This is intended to help the Trust get its message across to the majority of eligible young people.

Part 2: General

Sections 10 to 15 and Schedule 2: miscellaneous provisions

  1. Sections 10 to 15 make provision relating to definitions; consequential amendments; transitional arrangements; extent; commencement; and short title.
  2. Section 11 introduces Schedule 2, which makes consequential amendments to other legislation in relation to the NCS Trust. The consequential amendments mean that the chair of the Trust is disqualified from standing for election to the House of Commons, and that the Trust is subject to the requirements of the Public Records Act 1958, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Equality Act 2010.
  3. Paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 concerns eligibility for election to the House of Commons. In the government’s view it therefore does not fall within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales or the Northern Ireland Assembly. Schedule 2 to the Act does not, therefore, deal solely with devolved matters.

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