Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Accepted
Cadet Expansion Programme successfully democratised movement, increasing state school cadet unit representation.
Recommendation
The Department highlighted the success of the Cadet Expansion Programme which had already increased cadet force numbers in schools. The Department said that this had led to a real democratisation of the cadet movement. It reported that 57% of the school-based cadet units now came from the state sector, whereas independent schools used to account for about 70% of them, although units at independent schools tend to be larger and account for 61% of cadet numbers.17
Government Response Summary
The development of a programme plan for the growth in Cadet numbers is well underway and a Director level Senior Responsible Officer has been appointed. Work is in train within the department to determine the key target areas for growth and a priority is to attract and retain sufficient numbers of suitable adult volunteers.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2a. PAC recommendation: The Department should develop a plan by June 2026 (one year after the publication of the SDR) for increasing the number of Cadets which sets out how it will: • ensure that young people from different backgrounds and all parts of the UK can join; • address barriers to expansion such as the number of adult volunteers; and • maintain robust safeguarding arrangements for the enlarged Cadet forces. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2026 2.2 The development of a programme plan for the growth in Cadet numbers is well underway. This process is being taken forward through regular meetings of the Heads of the individual Cadet Forces. A Director level Senior Responsible Officer has been appointed, and governance arrangements are evolving in light of Defence Reform. 2.3 Work is in train within the department, based on the current laydown of the Cadet forces across the UK, to determine the key target areas for growth, taking into account demographic changes and indices of deprivation. 2.4 A priority for the programme is to attract and retain sufficient numbers of suitable adult volunteers to deliver the Cadet experience. Early work includes the launch of an attitude survey of current volunteers to help in determining appropriate actions to improve the volunteer ‘proposition’. 2.5 Work is being taken forward with Cadet safeguarding hubs to assess the need for increased capacity to manage the impact of Cadet growth (noting that a proportion of incidents