§ 25. Mr. Kenneth Lindsayasked the President of the Board of Education whether, in view of the general registration of young men at the age of 17 years 8 months and the reduction of the age for entering the Navy by the Y scheme to 16½ years, he will discontinue the present compulsory registration and voluntary interview of all youth at the age of 16, thus enabling overburdened authorities and voluntary societies to concentrate more attention on the neglected years between 14 and 16?
§ Mr. ButlerI have under consideration with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service the arrangements to be made for conducting future registration of young people, but it is not proposed to discontinue such registrations. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of circular 1630, which draws special attention to the needs of girls in the 14–16 age group.
§ Mr. LindsayDoes my right hon. Friend realise that the amount of work entailed for local authorities is out of all proportion to the results? They are not really getting hold of the difficult question at all.
§ Mr. ButlerI should have thought the recent White Paper on registration would indicate that it had already had most beneficial results.
§ Mr. ManderWould not the best results be obtained if registration and interview took place at the same time?
§ Mr. ButlerEach authority adopts the procedure and machinery which it considers most suitable. No doubt notice will be taken of what my hon. Friend has just said.