A Conservative MP criticised her government's flagship youth volunteering scheme for not doing enough for poorer areas during a speech at her party's conference earlier this week.

Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport, Stubbington, Lee–on-the-Solent and Hill Head told a fringe event about volunteering that the government’s flagship NCS scheme should be for focussed on poorer areas.

Dinenage, who is parliamentary under secretary at the Ministry of Justice and minister for equalities at the Department for Education, said: “National Citizens Service seems to gravitate towards the more affluent areas.

“I would like to see it much more focused on areas like mine where it could have much more value.”

Despite spending more than £130m on NCS last year the Office for Civil Society failed to hit the minimum recruitment target, it was announced last week.
 
Dinenage also praised her voluntary sector projects in her constituency, many that she said she was not aware of until becoming an MP, and said: “We as MPs have a responsibility to share that with the community and make people aware of what is out there.”