Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 26
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)
For the past four years, the Department has failed to publish the Council’s Annual Report and Accounts in a timely manner, and the Department acknowledged that the process was much longer and more protracted than it would like. It published the accounts for 2020–21, 2021–22 and 2022–23 together in October 2024, which meant that some information about the Council and the RFCAs’ financial performance was not publicly available until more than four years after it had occurred. At the time of our inquiry, the Department had not published the 2023–24 accounts, more than 35 Qq 39 to 42; C&AG’s Report, para 2.21 36 Q 29; C&AG’s Report, para 2.18 37 Q 29; C&AG’s Report, para 2.19 38 Q 34; C&AG’s Report, para 2.20 39 Q 37 16 a year after the end of that financial year.40 The Department said that delays in publishing the accounts were in part due to the structure in which it operates, whereby accounts are prepared by each of the 13 RFCAs and then consolidated by the Council. While the Council is responsible for producing a consolidated Annual Report and Accounts, the Department is responsible for publishing it.41 The Department said that in the longer term, the answer would lie in setting up an NDPB as a single entity, resulting in a streamlined approach to financial accounting. It added that, in the short term, it was looking at ways to speed up the process to publish accounts. This included the Council ensuring that the RFCAs had common processes and systems that would speed up the supply of financial information to it.42
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".