HL Deb 08 November 2004 vol 666 cc57-8WA
Lord Harrison

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What grants are given to (a) sea cadets; (b) the Combined Cadet Force; and (c) the equivalent organisations in the other services; whether such grants are balanced amongst the three services; whether they are satisfied that the grants represent value for money; and whether any stipulation to the issuing of grants applies to the recruitment of young people, broken down by sex; ethnic origin; and by type of education (whether at state and public schools). [HL4574]

2001–02 (£) 2002–03 (£) 2003–04 (£) 2004–05 (£) Total (£)
Athletics 2,069,059 2,233,324 1,905,120 2,069,385 8,276,888
Cycling1 2,113,097 1,306,225 1,628,465 1,872,795 6,920,582
Rowing 1,893,200 1,666,990 1,821,984 1,906,687 7,288,861
Sailing1 1,566,500 1,288,166 1,987,417 817,917 5,660,000
Canoe/kayak 826,557 855,199 875,467 892,777 3,450,000
Equestrian1 825,000 977,684 911,150 800,500 3,514,334
Judo1 795,000 820,000 845,000 820,000 3,280,000
Aquatics-Diving 230,000 227,000 250,662 213,838 921,500
Aquatics-Swimming 1,235,000 1,192,267 1,230,000 1,262,733 4,920,000
Gymnastics-Artistic 358,617 1,015,873 1,071,782 1,027,513 3,473,785
Gymnastics-Rhythmic 0 25,090 31,800 25,900 82,790
Gymnastics-Trampolining2 150,565 5,000 0 0 155,565
Triathlon 429,510 429,300 595,281 391,401 1,845,492
Modern Pentathlon 350,000 364,000 444,071 395,009 1,553,080
Target Shooting 215,791 359,279 295,000 209,930 1,080,000
Archery1 60,000 82,225 120,000 157,775 420,000

Lord Bach

The cadet forces are voluntary, community-based organisations promoting the personal and social development of young people. The focus is on bringing adventure and enjoyment, with a view to steering the cadets towards responsible citizenship. Funding is not linked to sex, ethnic origin or type of education as one of the main keystones of the cadet forces is social inclusion. The MoD funding made available for the financial year 2003–04 is as follows:

Sea Cadet Corps (SCC)—£8 million—£9 million. Funding is also provided by the Sea Cadet Association (SCA).

Army Cadet Force—£40 million. Some additional activities are funded by charity.

Air Training Corps—£21 million. Again, some additional activities are funded by charity.

Combined Cadet Force (CCF)—Each CCF is essentially a partnership between the individual school and the Ministry of Defence. The MoD, through the single services, contributed in the region of £15 million in FY 2003–04 to the CCF. In addition, the CCF benefits from the infrastructure established to support the other cadet forces. In many cases schools also provide additional funding.

The fact that cadet force funding has passed spending scrutiny year on year indicates that we believe these youth activities are of considerable value to both the Armed Forces and to society as a whole.