§ 26. Major Sir Reginald Dorman-Smithasked the Secretary of State for War the present value, per capita, of the Government grant towards the cadet battalions; whether he is aware of the present financial difficulties of some of these battalions; and whether, in these circumstances, any arrangements can be made to increase the scope of Government assistance?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaAnnual grants are made to recognized cadet units at the rate of 4s. for each qualified cadet, and to county cadet committees at the rate of 1s. for each qualified cadet. In addition, recognized cadet units get certain privileges of which particulars are given on page 66 of Army Estimates, 1938, and a grant of £750 a year is made to the British National Cadet Association for central administration.
As regards the second and third parts of the question, I have appointed a committee, under the chairmanship of my Noble Friend the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for War, to investigate the position, in the military organisation, of the Officers Training Corps and the Cadet Force and to make recommendations. The members of the committee are as follow:
- Major-General M. G. H. Barker, C.B., D.S.O., Director of Recruiting and Organisation.
670 - Major-General Sir John Brown, K.C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O., T.D., Deputy Director-General of the Territorial Army.
- Mr. T. J. Cash, a Director of Finance, The War Office.
- Mr. H. H. Hardy, M.B.E., M.A., Headmaster of Shrewsbury School, representing the Headmasters' Conference.
- Mr. E. G. Howarth, C.B., C.B.E., Deputy Secretary of the Board of Education.
- Colonel A. I. Macdougall, D.S.O., M.C., Directorate of Military Training.
- Mr. W. T. Marsh, M.A., Headmaster of St. Albans School, representing the Incorporated Association of Headmasters.