Lord Lingfield (Con)

My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan. I remind your Lordships of my interest as chairman of the Chartered Institution for Further Education and the Cadet Vocational College. It is about that FE college that I want to speak briefly this afternoon. Community cadets are a growing and vital part of our education service in many areas of disadvantage. These are of course the Army Cadet Force, the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, and the Sea Cadets and Royal Marines Cadets. The boys and girls who take part are often those whom conventional training providers find it difficult to reach. We tend to think of cadet activities as being simply of recreational benefit, but it is clear that the cadet experience provides crucial vocational skills as well. The recent four-year review commissioned by the Ministry of Defence and carried out by a team from the University of Northampton concluded that participation in the cadet forces has “significant positive impacts on … employment and career prospects”. These are “particularly strong for those cadets that suffer economic and other disadvantages”. This, they concluded, is because cadet activities develop self-sufficiency, self-control, confident communication and resilience, all of which are closely correlated with employability. In addition, for some time, the Cadet Vocational College has made it possible for these young people to undertake vocational programmes through the medium of their cadet forces. Some 4,000 or 5,000 learners each year take advantage of these courses, which support progression into further education, higher education and apprenticeships. Among them are many who do not thrive in traditional school environments but, outside the conventional classroom setting, get a second chance. Qualification completion via the college is regularly around 85%. The reach of the college’s work is UK-wide and represents a very successful partnership between government and the voluntary sector. I sincerely pay tribute to Ministers and officials at the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education who underpin the college’s work by their encouragement, support and grant funding, which enables many disadvantaged young people to begin their paths to employability at no cost to themselves. Next week, the Cadet Vocational College’s dozen most successful cadets in the country will come with their parents and cadet leaders here to the Cholmondeley Room and the Terrace to celebrate their success. Cadet-based vocational education reaches young people through organisations they trust and experiences they value. I commend the work of the Cadet Vocational College to your Lordships’ House.