David Cameron to work with National Citizen Service in first post-politics role

David Cameron has pledged to try to make non-military national service “a rite of passage” for every British teenager in his first job since resigning as prime minister.

A month after stepping down as an MP, Cameron has announced that he is to chair a panel of patrons on the expanded National Citizen Service (NCS) – a summer camp initiative he set up in his first months in office designed to instil social responsibility in young people as part of his “big society”.

Cameron said the service was an example of the big society in action. But critics say there is little evidence that the scheme works. It has also emerged that one of the key funders of the initiative was a tycoon who backed Brexit.

Cameron said he wanted to offer every 16- and 17-year-old the chance to take part in the four-week camps and to embed the initiative “in our national fabric”.

Writing in the Telegraph, Cameron said: “That should be our goal – not necessarily a compulsory programme, but one that is universally available and becomes a normal part of growing up for every teenager.”

Under the initiative, teenagers from all backgrounds take part in a voluntary project aimed at putting something back into their community. Cameron said that if the idea was widely adopted it would give every generation “a greater sense of purpose, optimism and belonging”.

One of the founding patrons of the NCS was the former Conservative treasurer Peter Cruddas, who went on to become one of the key financial backers of the Vote Leave – a campaign that ultimately led to Cameron’s resignation as prime minister. The Peter Cruddas Foundation confirmed it donated £601,346.47 to help set up the NCS in 2010.

Lord Ashcroft, the Brexit-supporting former deputy chairman of the Conservative party, noted the irony in a tweet.

Cameron thanked his successor, Theresa May, for backing the programme in the form of a national citizen service bill, which was introduced to parliament on Tuesday. The bill will create a royal charter to put the NCS on a permanent legal footing.

But Andrew Mycock, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Huddersfield, said the evidence for the effectiveness of the scheme was “paper thin”. He said: “There are huge questions about its value for money. There is no evidence to suggest it has changed behaviour or created a new mindset amongst young people – there is no longitudinal data to prove it. It has been expanded without any real data to suggest that it is improving the rates of volunteering or changing people to become more civically minded.“Socially and economically disadvantaged groups are not being bought in in the numbers that were promised. Every year it has failed to meet its target for recruitment. It has never realised those targets.”

Mycock argued that the scheme failed to promote civic values. He said: “It doesn’t encourage critical citizenship. It has turned more into a CV-enhancing service, to help people get a job or university place. It isn’t making young people more democratically engaged. It seems to be wanting to create a generation of rather inert citizens who accept austerity and are resilient to its many manifestations, but it is not encouraging them to change things.”

Cameron’s new unpaid role was approved by the advisory committee on business appointments, a watchdog tasked with overseeing the revolving door between Whitehall and the private and voluntary sector. But in a letter its chair, Angela Browning, reminded Cameron of the rules preventing former ministers from lobbying the government.

She wrote: “The restriction on lobbying means that former ministers ‘should not engage in communication with government – including ministers, special advisers and officials – with a view to influencing a government decision or policy [including applications for awards or grants] in relation to their own interests, or the interests of the organisation by which they are employed, or to whom they are contracted’.”

The NCS is run by Michael Lynas, a former civil servant from the No 10 policy unit. Its operations director is Will Gallagher, a former special adviser to Chris Grayling when he was justice secretary.

Stephen Greene, the chair of the NCS’s governing body, pointed out that Cameron would perform an ambassadorial role for the charity, but not be involved in its governance. One of his first roles would be to help recruit the panel of patrons he will chair.

Greene said: “Mr Cameron has been involved in the programme from its very beginning. No one knows the programme better. It is really a job to support the programme and grow it and expand it. It was a natural fit.

“The great thing about the NCS is that it has enjoyed incredible cross-party support. David Blunkett sits on the board with me. NCS was in the Labour party’s manifesto.”

Asked how much time Cameron would devote to the post, Greene said: “He is clearly here to serve. It is not a ceremonial post. This is a working position. I know he will put everything into it to give NCS the additional support and oomph it needs. Mr Cameron is able to engage people from all sorts of sectors. If he is able to do that a day a month then fantastic. But it is really about the output not the amount of time.”

The Labour MP and former soldier Dan Jarvis said he would welcome an expansion of the scheme.

He said: “Giving teenagers the opportunity to serve can both help lay the foundations for adult life and improve society. If expanded, The National Citizen Service – a vision of the last Labour government – could grow to become a key part of our communities and an important aspect of many young people’s lives.”

When Cameron resigned as MP for Witney he said he wanted to “start to build a life outside Westminster” prompting speculation that he would pursue lucrative corporate opportunities.

In his Telegraph article Cameron urged businesses, charities and MPs from all parties to get behind the idea. “We can continue to build this special movement – empowering our young people to be united in their diversity, with the skills to get on in life and the compassion to support each other,” he wrote.