The Personnel Committee of Kent County Council met on Monday 14 September 2026. The meeting's agenda included a discussion on a proposed special leave entitlement for Cadet Force Adult Volunteers and an exempt item concerning the KCC Employee Probation Policy.

Cadet Force Adult Volunteers Special Leave

A key item scheduled for discussion was a proposal to introduce a formal special leave entitlement for employees who serve as Cadet Force Adult Volunteers. These volunteers support armed forces youth cadet organisations, including the Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Force, Combined Cadet Force, and Royal Air Force Air Cadets. The report pack indicated that the recommendation was to agree to introduce a special leave entitlement of up to two weeks per leave year, effective from 1 October 2026. This initiative is intended to support Kent County Council's (KCC) Gold Employer Recognition Scheme award.

The report highlighted that KCC has a history of supporting the Armed Forces Covenant and is a Gold Employer Recognition Scheme award holder. The proposed leave entitlement aims to strengthen KCC's position for revalidation of this award. Cadet Force Adult Volunteers play a role in planning, delivering, and supervising training for young people, contributing to activities such as annual camps, field training, and leadership development.

Currently, employees who are members of Reserve Forces are entitled to up to two weeks of paid leave per year for activities like annual training camps. However, Cadet Force Adult Volunteers do not have a dedicated special leave entitlement and can only use their general volunteering leave allowance of two paid days per year.

Benchmarking across the public sector indicated a growing trend for dedicated special leave for Cadet Force Adult Volunteers, typically ranging from five to ten paid days per year. Some councils, such as Milton Keynes City Council, offer 10 paid days, while West Northamptonshire Council offers five. In contrast, local authorities like Medway, Essex, and East Sussex offer between zero and two paid days.

The rationale for the proposed change included strengthening KCC's case for maintaining its Employer Recognition Scheme Gold status. The report noted that while not a mandatory requirement for Gold accreditation, enhanced support for Cadet Force Adult Volunteers demonstrates a strong commitment to the Armed Forces community. The proposal also aligns with national initiatives such as the Strategic Defence Review 2025 and the Government's '30 by 30' campaign, which aim to increase Active Reserves and Cadets.

The report estimated the financial implications of the proposal to be approximately £2,900 per annum, based on the two employees identified as Cadet Force Adult Volunteers in a 2025 survey. This figure represents the maximum potential annual value if both employees utilised the full entitlement. The proposal would not result in direct additional salary costs, as employees would receive their normal pay while on leave.

The committee was asked to consider whether a future scheme should include arrangements for other youth-related volunteer groups. Representation had been received from The Scout Association, requesting that their volunteers also be included in any special leave provisions. However, the report indicated that KCC does not collect data to estimate the number of staff involved with other youth groups, and a survey would be needed to gather this information. The current proposal was specifically developed to support Cadet Force Adult Volunteers due to KCC's commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant.

KCC Employee Probation Policy

The agenda also listed an exempt item concerning the KCC Employee Probation Policy. This item was scheduled to be discussed in a part of the meeting where the press and public were likely to be excluded. No further details regarding the specific discussions or recommendations for this item were available in the public reports pack.