Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Garnier Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)]

14. What steps his Department is taking to help prepare cadets for potential careers in the armed forces.

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Al Carns)]

I have visited multiple cadet units all over the country and have been truly astounded at the social mobility that the cadets provides for a whole range of young people. We have over 140,000 cadets at the moment, supported by 26,000 volunteers. We are doing everything we can to look to expand those programmes over time and ensure that the opportunity is available for everybody, from every walk of life.

[Mark Garnier]

In my new role as the chair of the British Shooting Sports Council, I take a keen interest in cadet target rifle shooting. The Minister will be aware that the Ministry of Defence is proposing to withdraw from service the 7.62 cadet target rifle from 2026, and the .22 rifle just two years later. Aside from depriving cadets from the opportunity to learn the highly disciplined and valuable skills of firearms safety and use, the proposal calls into question the future of target rifle shooting in the UK. Will the Minister meet me and representatives of the shooting and target rifle community to discuss opportunities to reverse this decision?

[Al Carns]

I will happily come and talk through that in due course. I have been in the military for 24 years and have spent a lot of time shooting, and I can see its benefits.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Garnier Excerpts

Monday 18th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dunne]

The hon. Lady is right to identify the fact that precision munitions are costly, but I can reassure her that we are keeping a very close watch on stockpiles and ensuring that we have sufficient missiles in stock to meet our requirements. As the Prime Minister said in this House during the Syria debate, it is absolutely the Government’s intent to press for a rebuilding programme for Syria when this terrible civil war comes to an end.

[Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)]

T3. Cadet units across the country are keen to engage in target rifle shooting, and yet the rules surrounding transportation of rifles and ammunition make such participation all but impossible for schools and cadet units. Will the Secretary of State meet me and representatives of the National Rifle Association to discuss how we can get around those very difficult rules in a practical and safe manner?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Julian Brazier)]

I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and the National Rifle Association. I should say though that, although handling youngsters on a rifle range is very skilled business, we cannot find any evidence from any of the four service organisations that there is a particularly acute shortage in that regard, although some individual cases have been brought to my attention. None the less I would be delighted to have the meeting that he suggests.

Reserve Forces

Mark Garnier Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

As my hon. Friend will see when he reads the White Paper—the document that the shadow Secretary of State was waving a few moments ago—we do indeed emphasise that the role of the reserves in future will include participation in stabilisation and conflict-prevention operations.

On eligibility for ODA-compliant funding in these operations, recently my hon. Friend kindly sent me a paper that he has written suggesting areas that might be ODA-compliant. I have passed it to officials so that they can look further at whether there might be avenues to pursue.

[Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his statement, although I regret the closure of the Shrubbery TA centre in Kidderminster. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that the neighbouring King Charles I secondary school combined cadet force unit is safe? Can he also confirm that the 30 or so reservists who are currently based at the Shrubbery TA centre will be given financial support for travelling a greater distance?