Results from a petition for national service

alexjames33Thu 13/03/08 15:36

The Government has no plans for the reintroduction of National Service.

Since National Service was abolished in 1963, no Government has considered its re-introduction as a possible method to help tackle problems of law and order. Conscription in any form has little value in meeting the recruiting needs of the Armed Forces. The Government believes that in order to maintain the exceptionally high standards of the UK Armed Forces service must remain entirely voluntary. It would undermine the professional nature of the Armed Forces if service were to be seen as a punishment, rather then a privilege. The Armed Forces conducts their recruitment policy of offenders and ex-offenders in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, under which no candidate is eligible for entry if they have convictions that are unspent. For those who have been detained in a Youth Offender Institute or in Youth Custody, this period is seven years, although this may be reduced by half if the offender was under the age of 18 at the time of conviction.

Defence continues to make a significant positive impact on the Government's youth agenda, by supporting a range of projects focussed on the well being of young people. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is involved with a wide range of projects, such as Outreach, which is an Army Cadet Force Association Project, which works with disaffected 14 to 16 year olds, helping them to benefit from an intensive programme of outdoor based confidence training, leadership and team building activities. Other projects include the Skill Force, which is based in schools and aims to turn around disaffected young people by helping them to develop the skills they need, and the MOD also contributes to several projects within the voluntary sector, including the Prince's Trust, where last year (2006/07) MOD supported 150 personal development programmes for young people across the UK by providing MOD staff to act as a leaders/mentors. In addition to projects like this, the Cadet Forces continue to thrive, and offer substantial benefits to those who enrol.

The success of all the MOD's youth programmes is based on the expertise and enthusiasm of serving and retired Service personnel and Cadet Adult volunteers. They dedicate considerable amounts of time to ensure that the programmes that they lead are both challenging and appealing to all young people, combining an enjoyable experience with the challenge, discipline and social skills that the Armed Forces excels in promoting.

The Government shares the petitioner's concerns about young offenders, but it does not believe that the establishment of 'boot camps' is the answer. Projects such as this have been run in the USA since 1983, focussing on creating a military atmosphere, with drilling, physical training, strict discipline and hard labour. Research performed in the USA has indicated that simply adopting a harsh military regime does not, in itself, reduce re-offending.

So what do they intend doing to young offenders, about time someone done something