Army Cadet Complaints

If someone feels that something has gone wrong or could have been done better, they can submit a complaint. This includes our cadets, Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFAVs), the parents or carers of our cadets, and members of the public.

There are some things we cannot manage as a complaint:

• If you have any concern relating to immediate risk or harm to one of our cadets, or any child or young person, please report it directly to the police on 999 or 101.

• If you are worried about the care or safety of a child, you can contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or e-mail help@nspcc.org.uk who will be able to give you advice.

• Young people under the age of 18 can contact Childline on 0800 1111 for free confidential advice or support.

If we receive a complaint that relates to criminal activity or safeguarding concerns, we will immediately pass it to the correct organisation to deal with.

Most Army Cadet activities take place locally at our detachments, so we strongly encourage you to speak to your local detachment volunteer team first, as they can usually respond to your concerns quickly and courteously. They can also help explain our policies and processes if this was the cause of your concern.

If it is not possible for our local detachment volunteer teams to assist, you can complete and submit a complaint form to us. Please provide as much information as possible, but don’t worry if you don’t have every detail at the time. Once you have completed the form, you can email it to the appropriate county HQ team. The contact emails of all our county HQ teams can be found on the ‘Find a detachment‘ page.

When we receive a complaint, it is passed to the correct part of the organisation to manage. They will get in contact with you so we can better understand what has happened and properly review the complaint. We will keep you informed at each step of the complaints process and explain the next steps in the process.

We have a different process for reporting malpractice, sometimes known as whistleblowing. This is explained on the MOD Confidential Hotline page. If you have a concern that someone in the Army Cadets is not complying with their legal obligations, is causing damage to the environment, is committing fraud or is breaching the Civil Service Code or Service Values and Standards, you can contact the confidential hotline by calling 0800 161 3665 (or +44 1371 854881 for overseas) or e-mailing Confidential-hotline@mod.gov.uk. For concerns about fraud, you can write to the MOD at: Fraud Defence (Confidential Hotline), 3.N, Main Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB.

The MOD Confidential Hotline cannot be used for complaints about behaviours, concerns, bullying, harassment or discrimination. These should be submitted using the complaint form so that they can be addressed as soon as possible.