Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Ian Roome and Louise Sandher-Jones
Monday 15th December 2025
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(1 week, 2 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Ian Roome (North Devon) (LD)
The strategic defence review states that we need a 30% increase in cadet forces, from 140,000 to 180,000. However, I am informed that there is a severe shortage of adult instructors. What is the Minister going to do to address that problem?
Louise Sandher-Jones
The hon. Member raises an important point. The cadets are a fantastic opportunity for our young people, who learn to build valuable skills, values and experience. Underpinning that is the work of our amazing adult volunteers. We are working very hard to see what we can do to improve how we support adult volunteers and, of course, to recruit more, so that we can continue to grow our cadets by 30% by 2030.