Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the current shortfall in the (a) Army Reserve, (b) RAF Reserve, (c) Royal Navy Reserve and (d) Royal Marines Reserve.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I am grateful for the contribution of our Reserve Forces who provide the UK with the ability to meet the threats we face at home and overseas, with the scale, skills, agility and connection to society that it needs, in a cost-effective way.
The requested information is published in the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics, the latest edition of which (1 January 2025) can be found at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2025/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-1-january-2025#future-reserves-2020-fr20-programme-monitoring
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the most recent survey of Army personnel on the quality of food served to them was undertaken.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Delivering high quality and varied food to Service personnel is important to both the Army and the Department. The Army regularly provides opportunities for its personnel to provide feedback and encourages them to do so.
The most recent survey undertaken occurred in 2021, whereby the Army undertook the Army Messing Survey The feedback from this survey informed the development of the Army EATS (Exploring the Appetites of Today Soldiers) report. Not only did the survey collate personnel feedback relating to the quality of food, but also feedback on serving hours, environment and the method of service provided.
Acting on the results of this, in 2024 Defence launched the Defence Catering Strategy, which aims to improve food provision across the entire Armed Forces and provides new menus for Service personnel. The strategy also encourages personnel to regularly provide feedback through a wide variety of existing means so that we can continually improve food quality across Defence.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which countries the Army sourced chicken from for its personnel's meals in the past five years.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This information is not held.
Under the terms of the Ministry of Defences’ (MOD) food contracts, the procurement of all produce is the responsibility of the prime contractors.
All food procured for MOD personnel must comply with MOD food quality standards which, in turn, comply with all UK and EU production standards, Farm Assurance or equivalent.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which countries the Army sourced beef from for its personnel's meals in the past five years.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This information is not held.
Under the terms of the Ministry of Defences’ (MOD) food contracts, the procurement of all produce is the responsibility of the prime contractors.
All food procured for MOD personnel must comply with MOD food quality standards which, in turn, comply with all UK and EU production standards, Farm Assurance or equivalent.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many engineers there were in post in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) RAF in each year since 2010.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This information is being withheld as it would prejudice the capability, security and effectiveness of UK Armed Forces, and could provide tactical advantage to hostile forces.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of officer cadets entering Sandhurst since 2015 attended a (a) state and (b) private school.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The table below shows the proportion of officer cadets entering Sandhurst in the last 10 years who attended independent and state schools.
This data has been provided from a Single Service source rather than official statistics produced by Defence Statistics as the latter do not collate this information.
Training Year | Independent Schools % | State Schools % |
2015-16 | 40 | 60 |
2016-17 | 42 | 58 |
2017-18 | 43 | 57 |
2018-19 | 48 | 52 |
2019-20 | 43 | 57 |
2020-21 | 44 | 56 |
2021-22 | 43 | 57 |
2022-23 | 41 | 59 |
2023-24 | 39 | 61 |
2024-25 | 39 | 61 |
Note:
Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number for presentational purposes.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many working dogs the Army had in each year since 2010; and what the requirement was in each of those years.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As at 23 January 2025, there were 113 trained Military Working Dogs (MWD) in the British Army.
Determining whether an annual breakdown of MWD in the Army could be provided for each year since 2010 could only be achieved at a disproportionate cost due to information being held in different formats.
We would not routinely release the requirement for Military Working Animals due to reasons of operational security.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he decided not to release the workforce requirement figures of Army regiments for reasons of operational security.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In 2022, with Departmental support, the Army adopted a position not to release the workforce requirement of its internal organisations following the announcement of the Integrated Review and Future Soldier transformation.
I am happy to speak to my hon. Friend about this further.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many overseas army training exercises took place each year since 2010.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Army invests significantly in skills, education and training for its people to build the problem-solving attributes, teamwork, resilience, intellect and creativity needed to be successful now and in the future.
The Army maintains an active overseas training programme that delivers against robust training objectives and supports UK defence engagement efforts overseas, as well as demonstrating our clear commitment to our Allies and partners.
The information requested is not held centrally, but I have provided a broad estimate of approximate figures. An illustrative estimate of the number of overseas training exercises conducted as part of the Overseas Training Exercise (OTX) programme is provided below. Please be aware however that some exercises are not included (such as those for specialist units) in the figures provided and the table represents only a partial picture. Information required to answer the question in full is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Year | Number of Overseas Exercises held |
2010-2020 | 75 exercises per year. (estimated)* |
2020-2021 | 0 - due to COVID |
2021-2022 | 0 - due to COVID |
2022-2023 | 55 |
2023-2024 | 84 |
2024-2025 | 70 to be completed (estimated) |
*Detailed information on training activity prior to 2020 is no longer held in accordance with MOD data retention policy, as a result this figure is strictly an estimate of annual activity
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) budget for and (b) amount spent on Defence medical services was in each year since 2015.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The table below presents the budget and amount spent by Defence Medical Services in each year since 2016. Figures prior to 2016 are not held in the format requested:
Financial Year | Budget £ | Spend £ |
16/17 | 505,432,887.00 | 457,074,000 |
17/18 | 476,356,801.00 | 461,981,000 |
18/19 | 469,936,182.00 | 470,270,000 |
19/20 | 498,647,556.00 | 494,110,000 |
20/21 | 502,061,045.00 | 470,433,673 |
21/22 | 507,039,627.00 | 492,879,950 |
22/23 | 530,653,498.00 | 509,508,070 |
23/24 | 550,152,449.00 | 544,294,366 |