Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Reserve Forces (Safeguard of Employment) Act 1985 to include Army Cadet Force instructors.

The Reserve Forces (Safeguard of Employment) Act 1985 protects the jobs of reservists who are called into service for full-time duty. Army Cadet Force Instructors are volunteers and not employed by the Ministry of Defence. The Cadet Forces are not part of the Armed Forces of the Crown, and members of the Cadet Forces have no liability for military service. This being the case we do not intend to review the scope of the Act to include Cadet Force Adult Volunteers.

Cadet Force Adult Volunteers are without doubt the lifeblood of our Cadet Forces without whom the fantastic benefits of the ‘cadet experience’ could not be enjoyed by many thousands of young people. We are truly grateful for their volunteering service, and this is fully recognised in a number of ways, not least through the award of the Cadet Forces Medal on completion of twelve years’ qualifying service.