Army Cadet Complaints

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 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 you have a concern that someone in the Army Cadets is damaging the environment, is committing fraud or not complying with their legal obligation, you can write to the MOD at: Fraud Defence (Confidential Hotline), 3.N, Main Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB.

How do I raise a concern or make a complaint?

As most Army Cadet activities take place locally at our detachments many concerns can be dealt with quickly and courteously in an informal way by your local detachment volunteer team. In dealing with concerns and complaints we aim to provide a fair and open process. The steps are:

Step 1: If you wish to complain about a matter within a local detachment please talk to the detachment commander. They are in charge of cadet activities within the detachment and will listen to your complaint and do their best to answer your concerns and look to resolve any complaints informally where possible.

Step 2: If you do not feel that you can discuss the concern or complaint with the detachment commander (Step 1) or if your query is more serious, then you should contact your Army Cadets County HQ. Contact details can be found via the counties page.

Step 3: If, after receiving a response to your complaint from the Army Cadets County (Step 2), you are concerned that it was not handled appropriately, or still consider that you have not had a satisfactory answer, you will be informed of who you can raise an appeal to.

What kind of complaints do you deal with?

We accept complaints from cadets and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFAVs) about how they have been treated by the Army cadets and from parents or carers of cadets with concerns about how their child has been treated by members of the Army cadets. We also look at complaints from members of the public about the conduct of cadets and adults while they are taking part in cadet activities.

Most minor complaints are dealt with directly by the Army cadets. However, if the complaint is about behaviour that may be of a criminal nature or about a matter where a young person might be at risk it will be immediately referred to the appropriate authorities.

When the allegation is about conduct which may be of a criminal nature, the matter is immediately referred to the police for investigation. Where a young person might be at risk the police are asked to advise whether Social Services should be involved.

Where the allegation is about a matter where a young person might be at risk, but not about conduct which may be of a criminal nature, a report will be made to Social Services and their advice requested.