Asked by: Lord Colgrain (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current national budget of the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Accurate financial information for the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCAs) can be found in the published Consolidated Financial Statements in their Annual Reports and Accounts, the latest three of which were placed in the Library of the House on 22 October 2024. These documents extend to Financial Year (FY) 2022-23 and can be found as Deposited Papers at the following website: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2286623/details.
The RFCA’s Annual Report and Accounts for FY 2023-24 are not yet finalised but will be published in due course. The RFCA’s budget for FY 2024-25 is held across a number of different funding lines and will be published in due course through the Annual Report and Accounts process.
Asked by: Lord Colgrain (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the estimated cost of the executive boards of the 13 Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The estimated annual projected costs to the Ministry of Defence of the 145 volunteers who are members of an executive board, i.e. the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCA) Executive Boards, the Council of Reserve Forces and Cadets Association (CRFCA) and the CRFCA Board, is a maximum of approximately £45,000.
This estimate is based on 100 per cent of the volunteers claiming 100 per cent of their travel and subsistence costs. In reality, the actual cost of expenditure claims associated with RFCA Executive Boards is likely to be far lower; a number of RFCAs report nil cost. The vast majority of active members make no claims, reflecting their sense of service and deep connection with the UK’s Reserve Forces and Cadets.
Asked by: Lord Colgrain (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of volunteer hours put in by non-executive board members and the wider membership of the Reserve Forces and Cadet Associations.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (RFCA) is a centrally coordinated national body that delivers its outputs locally, by local people, to support the sustainment and generation of Reserve Forces. The RFCA and the 13 Regional RFCAs purposefully sit outside of the Chains of Command (as an Arm’s Length Body) in order to support better outcomes for the public.
The RFCA has an extensive volunteer membership (numbering around 8,000), bringing a wide breadth of expertise and community links. The RFCAs’ extensive network of volunteer members, based within communities across the UK, enable the RFCAs to better connect to society.
Volunteers assist in providing the RFCAs with the information and knowledge needed to discharge their duties. While the number of hours volunteered is not formally recorded either for the volunteer membership or non-executive board members, it is estimated that this figure is around 69,000 hours per year.
Asked by: Lord Colgrain (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the target size for the number of personnel in the trained strength of the army reserve force; what is the total figure for trained strength of the reserve; and how many recruits there are in each arm or corps of the army reserve.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
As at 1 October 2022, the Army Reserve had a trained strength of 23,030. It is planned to grow to 30,100 under Future Soldier plans, of which c.3,000 will be untrained personnel.
The below table shows a breakdown of recruits, i.e. untrained personnel, in the Army Reserve, as at 01 October 2022:
Arm / Service |
|
Yeomanry | 120 |
Royal Regiment of Artillery | 180 |
Corps of Royal Engineers | 210 |
Royal Corps of Signals | 130 |
Infantry | 1,120 |
Army Air Corps | 50 |
Royal Army Chaplains’ Department | 10 |
The Royal Logistic Corps | 310 |
Royal Army Medical Corps | 200 |
Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers | 70 |
Adjutant General’s Corps, Staff & Personnel Support | 30 |
Adjutant General’s Corps, Provost Branch | 40 |
Adjutant General’s Corps, Educational and Training | - |
Adjutant General’s Corps, Army Legal Services Branch | - |
Royal Army Veterinary Corps | - |
Small Arms School Corps | - |
Royal Army Dental Corps | - |
Intelligence Corps | 120 |
Royal Army Physical Training Corps | - |
Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps | 40 |
General Service Corps/General List | 10 |
Others | - |
Source: Analysis (Army)
Notes/Caveats: