Ofsted Annual Report (Armed Forces Initial Training)

Thursday 4th July 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr Mark Francois)]

Today Ofsted publishes its fifth report on welfare and duty of care in armed forces initial training, copies of which I have placed in the Library of the House. Following visits to 10 armed forces initial training establishments between October 2012 and February 2013, Ofsted reports that recruits and trainees feel safe and that their welfare needs are largely being met.

While all the locations visited by Ofsted are judged as “adequate” or better, including those which are judged as outstanding, there is still room for improvement and Ofsted has made a number of recommendations that will enable establishments to reduce wastage rates and improve procedures to share best practice in welfare and duty of care and for teaching and learning across their activities.

The armed forces are determined to ensure that the initial training environment is supportive of the needs of those new to the service and the particular focus of the Ofsted inspection provides additional detail on which to reflect and review the effectiveness of our training regimes.