Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what arrangements are in place to fund the expansion of the Combined Cadet Force; and what the estimated total cost of that expansion is.

Mr Philip Dunne

Expansion of the Combined Cadet Force is under way through the joint Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Department for Education Cadet Expansion Programme which was launched in 2012. The programme is on target to provide 100 new cadet units in state schools in England by September 2015.

The programme had an initial budget of £10.85 million to meet start-up costs for the first 100 units. Fixed and running costs of these units are being absorbed through efficiencies found from existing MOD budgets.

The expansion programme is also supported by the Cadet Bursary Fund, a charitable fund launched by the Prime Minister in June 2014. This fund, which provides grants to help schools alleviate financial barriers to establishing new units, particularly additional staff costs, was supported with £1 million from LIBOR fines.

The total cost of the expansion will depend on the number of cadets in each unit, and the eventual number of new units. It is too early to say how many cadets there will be in the first 100 new units and plans and funding for any expansion beyond September 2015 will be a matter for the Government returned after the election, and for the 2015 Spending Review.