hope everyone is looking forward to the no legal annual leave requirement
Was discussing (cynically) with a couple of people the cadet numbers & associated âsupportâ quoted in the Review.
Howâs this for the flavour? Perhaps MOD is trying to move the cost of running the Cadet Forces onto Department for Education? If they set up more cadet forces in state schools, staffed by teachers, this will slowly take the funds from the âourâ cadets, then DfE will pick up the bill.
Tah dah - then the MOD have plenty empty city centre buildings / land that they can flog off?
I need to review the previous historic numbers, but they havenât been too bad for RAFAC 2020 figures
To quote from the Review:
"6.15. The cadets are a key part of our youth agenda and help young people from across the UK to broaden their horizons and unlock their potential. We will sustain the five MOD sponsored cadet forces across the UK that currently provide opportunities for 130,000 cadets.
Having exceeded our previous target to increase the number of cadet units in state secondary schools, we will go further, with the Department for Education, by investing in the Cadet Expansion Programme to bring this fantastic opportunity to more young people. We will publish an independent peer-reviewed study later this year which examines how cadets benefit from their experience and the contribution they make to wider society.â
Itâs a different environment - will school-based cadets (especially at a state secondary) be as viable as âindependentâ units?
Is the 130,00 a smoke & mirrors act, (a) to make it look like the scheme is working, & (b) so that schools can claim more money from the government to fund their DofE programmes / school trips?
A little birdie has suggested a number of schools are allegedly being investigated for committing fraud via their CCF - I believe that basically their budget is allocated by each cadet they have on strength. So, some of them have allegedly enrolled every student, whether they are in the CCF or not, so that they can get more money⌠Naughty, naughty!
do we know the breakdown of this?
Also is the pre pandemicâŚor expected headcount post pandemic âŚif itâs the later theyâre in for a shock
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Wouldnt surprise me.
Most schools are on the fiddle.
Is there anything youâre not cynical about?! 
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Not really.
Comes with age.
Edit - a good stilton with a good port is always good. Some truths are absolute.
Dunno - need to look back to the Review to see if they linked to any sources. Seems quite high to me, even if taking into account all CCF?
Anything but an MOD source saying that this is âgood newsâ for the UK DefenceâŚ
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I canât obviously comment on whether thereâs an investigation, even if I knew anything.
But CCF funding is calculated on the number of active cadets, which means they have to be registered as attending training. When this was first introduced, some schools were accused of fiddling the figures because their attendance was 99% or more - I donât know what the comparable figure for community cadets is, but itâs much lower.
But in a school environment where the CCF may well be compulsory, pupils always attend, unless they are out of school as well. A 99% attendance rate would be entirely plausible - indeed, as a Contingent Commander I wouldnât have been doing my job if it was much lower than that.
This may be the source of the rumours. I donât know.
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Some CCFs were entering incorrect figures (though that may have been incompetence). And now they are no moreâŚ
I led to believe that one school enrols one entire year in the CCF, regardless if they will attend or notâŚ
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I guess the issue is you or @tmmorris donât know whether this is a school where CCF is a compulsory activity or not. If it is, then the school can legitimately claim for them and their lack of attendance is then a truancy issue for the school to deal with
Not if they arenât attending, though. Prior to Westminster CCF grants and resource allocation was based on establishments, as long as you stayed within something like 90% of the figure (otherwise they would revise the establishment down). Now, cadets have to attend, and marking cadets as present when they are absent is very clear fraud.
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Ah, I see - I was thinking about it much more holistically
No, the new Mk4s are specifically marinised to operate in the littoral, delivering RM and SF and doing things like JPR. Theyâre also used across defence, not just for the Navy. Also the whole Merlin fleet are ace and we need more of them, not less
Outlook for 2021:
Expect more consolidation of ATC units. Hub and spoke (Squadron and flights) is going to be pushed massively.
Uniform supply is a massive issue; may accelerate a move to alternative funding and more regular MTP use / hybrid uniform dress. Will also solve growing concern about culture and ethos surrounding some uniform obsessed CFAV and associated treatment of cadets.
Huge push on space. Aerospace Academy at Syerston to be resurrected as an internal unit.
A big link up on sustainability to be announced.
Potential hard cadet exit at 18th birthday. More open pathway to UAS.
Donât mention the aeroplane. Gliding on a financial knife edge.
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