Commons leader says automatic enrolment of teenagers to optional civic programme will develop ‘resilience, skills and pride’
A new “Great British National Service” should be created that automatically signs up every 16-year-old in the UK, a think tank report backed by Penny Mordaunt has proposed.
The scheme would see teenagers spend a fortnight away on a civic exploration trip and be made to complete a certain amount of volunteering hours in a year.
The programme would not be mandatory but teenagers would have to opt out if they did not want to join, in contrast to the existing civic service scheme, which requires people to opt in.
That could see as many as 600,000 teenagers take part, according to estimates – far above peak participation in the existing National Citizen Service, which was created by David Cameron.