Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
43rd Report - MoD’s oversight of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations
Published 5 Sep 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee MoD’s oversight of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
As of 1 April 2024, there were approximately 3,500 cadet units across the UK and 139,960 cadets. Of these, 88,600 cadets were in community units, supported by 22,340 adult volunteers, and 51,360 in the school- based Combined Cadet Force, supported by 4,320 adult volunteers. The Department welcomed the ambition set out in the SDR to expand the cadet forces by 30% by 2030, with an ambition to reach 250,000 in the longer term, and told us that it did not believe that this proposed expansion posed a significant risk to other youth organisations such as the Scouts 10 Qq 2, 4, 15, 43 and 44 11 Q 49; C&AG’s Report, para 16 12 Qq 46, 47 and 48 13 Q 8; C&AG’s Report, para 1.2; Written answer 28 January 2025, UIN 26238 10 and Guides.14 The Department said in a letter following our evidence session that those organisations have much greater age ranges, are more accessible because of their greater presence across the UK and have a different appeal to the cadet forces.15
From: Public Accounts Committee, 43rd Report - MoD’s oversight of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (HC 893), 5 September 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-third Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 5 November 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-third report from Session 2024-26
Published 19 January 2026.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations on the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations, with target dates mainly of March or June 2026, and disagrees with one on publishing the 2023-24 accounts.
- On the Reserves, it agrees to set out its plan by March 2026 and says it will provide updates on progress as requested; it plans legislative measures in the next Armed Forces Bill to increase Active Reserves towards the 20% target, "when the financial situation allows".
- On Cadets, it agrees to a plan by June 2026 and says development of a programme plan for growth in Cadet numbers is "well underway", including work on adult volunteers and safeguarding capacity.
- On the proposed NDPB, it agrees to update the Committee by March 2026 and says the proposal "remains one of the measures being developed for potential inclusion in the 2026 Armed Forces Bill".
- It disagrees with the recommendation to publish the 2023-24 accounts in a compliant format, saying it is working to lay the 2023-24 and 2024-25 accounts "as planned in 2025-26" and acknowledging that "certain areas are not currently compliant with the FReM".