ACPS Cancelled: another kick in the teeth

Baroness Sue Garden - very supportive of getting cadets flying, had quite a bit of communication with her.

gardens@parliament.uk

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Thanks for the suggestions.
Iā€™ve written my angry email. Leaving it until tomorrow to send

I might write one too - one of our cadets now has 9 months to action her ACPS.

Unless, a temporary solution is found - heresy, why not used a CAA-approved ATO - offer a cash value to the cadet that has to be contracted with one of them? Or, pick several to take into account geographical regions & specify that they are to be used with a 9 month (whatever) contract.

We are getting as good at Capability Gaping as our Parent Serviceā€¦

See, there is relevant skill transfer for the modern world to be gained from time in the Air Cadetsā€¦

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Iā€™m calling BS on the explanation!

Dear Bank Manager,

Tayside Aviation Ltd currently finds itself ā€˜financially embarrassedā€™.
The company has, however, just been awarded a very lucrative contract from the MOD. It is a renewal of the ACPS contract, which has kept us afloat for the last 25 years!
Please please please can we have a bridging loan until the MOD cash arrives?

Kind regards,

Tony Banks (owner)

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This :arrow_up_small:

My interpretation, compounded by the 2nd place bidder being unable to honour their bid, is that at some point Tayside realised the contract was not viable and pulled the pin, forcing the administration.

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All reply comms from sqns / parents are now being directed to the 2FTS Biz Managerā€¦

Could this not have been raised via VoP firstā€¦ clearly an inside request :man_facepalming:

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Raised, yes.

Answered with clarity? Very much doubt it.

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And no reply yet, not even a ā€œholdingā€ one. Very rude.

I doubt that any reply via VoP would give the nitty gritty details - there might be a faint chance that any FoI request will provide more information, or maybe give a pointer to more questions (especially concerning due diligence in researching Taysideā€™s financial situation)ā€¦

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It is a sad situation that no only was this option ignored but others here seem to agree with that decision.

Sometimes communication just needs toā€¦communicate stuff rather than drag its heels

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Personally I wonā€™t be using it again due the attitudes of some of those who respond.

Its value is diminished when those in positions of knowledge, influence, and authority canā€™t even show consideration of the first word of its name.

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I do recognise your view and seen examples you describe. The Corps Training officer dismissing a training related question for example.

While RC(N) does a commendable job in "chairingā€™ the function it is a shame the SMEs invited to answer questions donā€™t ā€œget itā€ or appreciate why the platform is both valuable and dare i say it required

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Had a fairly non-committal reply back from 2FTS - not telling me anything new, & certainly not proposing any solutions for cadets who age out.

I have suggested 3 solutions:

  1. Transfer ACPS award to VGS-based Silver Gliding award (knock on for resources - ordinary gliding would be reduced).
  2. Transfer ACPS award to BGA facility (via bursary type payment) to achieve Silver Gliding standard.
  3. Transfer ACPS award to CAA-ATO facility (via bursary type payment) to achieve solo standard.

Iā€™ve also asked for number of ACPS awards for 2023 & how many cadets are expected to age out (should be easy as Cmdt 2FTS has already written to them!).

Iā€™ve also copied in Baroness Garden of Frognal (Air League Council Member) - extensive comms with her before & she is exceptionally ā€œpro-youthā€ flying.

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Surely the Corps could just make them temporarily CIs for the duration of the courseā€¦? Saves you having a group of high calibre cadets potentially holding a lifelong vendetta against the corps and maybe keep them as CFAVs.

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I did add this, but donā€™t think it is feasible:

Separately, I did consider extending the age limit from 20 yrs to 21 yrs for cadets so affected. However, I expect that many cadetsā€™ personal circumstances, such as gap yr, university attendance, planned career choice, etc, would preclude this option. A solution needs to be a flexible as possible in order to maximise potential take up.

This is not a ā€œback & whiteā€ accounting / protocol issue, but I would hazard a guess that it hasnā€™t been consideredā€¦

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A lot of cadets aged out before completing their ACPS during Covid when we couldnā€™t do residential activity and were simply told ā€˜too badā€™. Pretty sure the same will happen here.

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Covid was out of everyoneā€™s control. There is considerable scope to solve this problem - but it needs flexibility & speedy actionā€¦ā€¦

Ah! :man_facepalming:

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@MikeJenvey is rightā€¦this is an RAFAC/MOD created problem well wothin their own area of responsibility

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