Defence

Why is MOD in the Youth business?

There is a need for our young people to be offered tangible and realistic opportunities for enabling them to grow and get the best possible start in life.

And that is basically this Government’s policy for youth; to give children and young people, and particularly those at risk from social exclusion, the opportunities for self development and better life chances. With this in mind this Government is continuing to look at ways for helping young people by improving the opportunities available to them. Each Government Department, including MOD, is being encouraged to focus on what it can contribute to achieve this aim.

As MOD is one of the largest public sector organisations it is able to play a leading role in the Government’s aim for helping young people. Indeed, the range of activities provided for and by the Cadets (which is MOD’s main youth-related activity) is wider than any other United Kingdom youth organisation. One of the reasons the Cadets are so popular is because of the unparalleled opportunities they provide in terms of team-building, leadership; citizenship and, certainly more recently, recognised education and professional qualifications. Similarly, other MOD supported activities for young people (such as work with The Prince’s Trust, Skill Force and Outreach) are all aimed specifically at helping build the lives and confidence of young people.

So MOD is involved with helping young people as it recognises the part it can play in this important social agenda.

The Government’s strategy for young people is largely set out by the Department of Education and Skills (DfES). There is a clear intent to develop strategies that encourage the personal and social development of all young people with a particular focus on those at risk.

MOD's Youth Policy embraces this ethos in its goal to "support Government youth policies". It is incumbent upon MOD to ensure that its youth policy and the strategies that fall out of that not only reflect current youth Government policies but also incorporate lessons learned and new legislation.

Whilst MOD’s contribution to the youth agenda is made on voluntary, rather than statutory terms, we will continue to operate in accordance with Government youth policies. Most recently, we have been reviewing the Government’s ‘Every Child Matters: Change for Children’ to ensure that MOD’s youth activities translate well, and remain in step, with their main aims and achieve the 5 main outcomes, namely:

• Being healthy
• Staying Safe
• Enjoying and achieving
• Making a positive contribution
• Economic well-being

Recognising the importance of the part MOD plays for young people and its position within wider Government, on 24^th May 2005 MOD held its first Ministerial led ‘MOD Cadet and Youth Council’. This Council was established to ensure that matters concerning youth received the highest level attention. Officials from DfES and the Home Office attended as well as senior staffs from MOD’s three Armed Forces.

To maximise the effectiveness of delivering MOD supported youth activities, a ‘Strategy for the Delivery of MOD Initiatives’ was developed and approved by the MOD Cadet and Youth Council.

Crucial to the effectiveness of MOD’s efficient supporting and running of activities and initiatives is linkage with other organisations that share common objectives conducive to the youth agenda and can offer tangible support and funding. A MOD Partnership Guideline has been drawn up to identify the main themes behind partnership practice and this can be found at the following link:

Youth Register

MOD supports many activities for young people. The latest Register of MOD Youth Activities can be found in the related documents section of the page:

Youth Justice Board

In May 2004, MOD signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Youth Justice Board (YJB) that was principally aimed at working together for the best of young people. Since the MOU was signed, a number of joint MOD/YJB projects have been developed, details to follow.