Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of the ending of support payments on the provision of combined cadet forces in state schools.

The government, through the Ministry of Defence, provides in the region of £180 million to support cadets schemes. The Department for Education has contributed up to £1.1 million annually since the academic year 2021/22. This has provided some additional funding to support cadet expansion in the form of the school staff instructor (SSI) grant. This has been distributed to 230 state schools.

Due to the current challenging fiscal context the government is having to take difficult decisions to ensure the stability of the economy and, while the importance of cadets is being recognised by continued support for cadet units through core funding provided by the Ministry of Defence, the department has had to take the difficult decision to not extend the additional SSI grant into this academic year. All schools in receipt of the SSI grant have been informed.

The cadet expansion programme will continue to be delivered and receive £3.6 million in government funding for this academic year. This £3.6 million per year funding is within the Ministry of Defence’s annual budget cycle settlement showing a profile out to financial year 2033/2034. This funding goes to the single Service (Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force) cadet organisations to provide funding for cadet expansion in schools.