Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, has warned Prime Minister David Cameron that an extension of National Citizen Service will not be a catch-all answer to addressing issues surrounding last week’s UK riots.
On Monday, David Cameron made a ‘fightback’ speech in response to the disturbances, in which he promised to turn around problem families and encourage responsibility.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the National Citizen Service, the new pilot scheme which brings 16-year-olds from different backgrounds on seven-to-eight week projects to improve skills, confidence and engagement with the community. 11,000 young people are taking part this year and around 30,000 places will be available for young people next year.
Cameron said he would like to make this a national effort in response to the riots. “Let’s make National Citizen Service available to all 16-year-olds as a rite of passage,” he said.
However, Bubb, in a letter to Cameron, warns that one-size-fits-all solutions such as an extension of the National Citizen Service are unlikely to be the solution everywhere, and that instead, the government's localism response will have a greater impact.
“It is clear to me from discussion with my members that the causes and nature of the riots varied significantly from one place to another,” Bubb says. “The government has rightly committed itself to localism, criticising years of centralisation for creating a system where 'one-size-fits-all' policies are imposed by the centre whether or not they work locally.
“Now is not the time to forget that commitment or the logic behind it. The causes of the riots varied from place to place. One-size-fits-all solutions (such as extension of the National Citizens Service) are unlikely to be the answer everywhere.”
The letter adds that the government’s response should involve evidence-based policy making, including the UK learning from abroad, particularly the United States.
It also encourages the understanding of the socio-economic context: “The government’s response to the riots must be informed by an understanding of the socio-economic context in which the criminality and individual moral failings took place.
“And the government needs to consider what impact its response to the riots (e.g. removing certain benefits) might have on this socio-economic backdrop.
“This is not to excuse criminality or immoral behaviour – it is to seek to understand whether we can change the environment in which people live so as to reduce the likelihood of their acting in a criminal or immoral way in future. Whatever we do, we must not make things worse in an effort to be seen to be making things better.”
Independent inquiry into riots
In the letter, Bubb also welcomed the government’s establishment of an independent victims and communities panel in relation to the recent riots across England.
NCVO has also welcomed the panel.
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said: “An inquiry will enable us to fully understand the complex reasons for the shocking events that occurred last week.
“There are a number of important questions to be answered and this should go hand in hand with engagement with the communities affected.”
