Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of serving personnel in the (a) Navy, (b) Army and (c) RAF were recruited from countries outside the UK in each year since 2015; and from which countries.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The attached tables provide the intake into the Regular Armed Forces by Service and the Brigade of Gurkhas by nationality, and as percentage of overall intake in each year between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2024. Commonwealth citizens have been grouped together as numbers from individual Commonwealth countries can be very small.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Reserve Service Day budget for (a) the army, (b) maritime and (c) the RAF will be subject to in year savings measures for the financial year 2025-26.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Reserves enable our Armed Forces to meet the threats we face at home and overseas, by providing the scale, skills, agility and connection to society needed, in a cost-effective way. As the Minister for Veterans and People, I have commissioned an internal review in Defence to ensure that we are making the most of the unique contribution our Reserve Forces offer. The review will examine the Reserves landscape and will include some aspects of their terms and conditions of Service.
There is no baseline allocation of Reserve Service Days (RSD) for Army Reservists; individual Army Reserve RSD consumption varies between zero and 120 days, with an average of around 30 days. For the Maritime Reserve, the minimum annual training commitment is generally 24 RSD, split between the delivery of operational capability output and support activity. For Royal Air Force Reserve, the minimum annual RSD is 27 days, though the average is 30 days.
Funds are allocated appropriately to deliver strategic objectives. In advance of the conclusions of the Strategic Defence Review and the review I have commissioned it would be inappropriate to anticipate future budgetary allocations.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total Reserve Service Day Budget is for the (a) Army, (b) Maritime and (c) Air Force in financial year 2025-26.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Reserves enable our Armed Forces to meet the threats we face at home and overseas, by providing the scale, skills, agility and connection to society needed, in a cost-effective way. As the Minister for Veterans and People, I have commissioned an internal review in Defence to ensure that we are making the most of the unique contribution our Reserve Forces offer. The review will examine the Reserves landscape and will include some aspects of their terms and conditions of Service.
There is no baseline allocation of Reserve Service Days (RSD) for Army Reservists; individual Army Reserve RSD consumption varies between zero and 120 days, with an average of around 30 days. For the Maritime Reserve, the minimum annual training commitment is generally 24 RSD, split between the delivery of operational capability output and support activity. For Royal Air Force Reserve, the minimum annual RSD is 27 days, though the average is 30 days.
Funds are allocated appropriately to deliver strategic objectives. In advance of the conclusions of the Strategic Defence Review and the review I have commissioned it would be inappropriate to anticipate future budgetary allocations.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the baseline allocation of reserve services days will be for reservists in the (a) Army Reserve, (b) Maritime Reserve and (c) RAF Reserve in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Reserves enable our Armed Forces to meet the threats we face at home and overseas, by providing the scale, skills, agility and connection to society needed, in a cost-effective way. As the Minister for Veterans and People, I have commissioned an internal review in Defence to ensure that we are making the most of the unique contribution our Reserve Forces offer. The review will examine the Reserves landscape and will include some aspects of their terms and conditions of Service.
There is no baseline allocation of Reserve Service Days (RSD) for Army Reservists; individual Army Reserve RSD consumption varies between zero and 120 days, with an average of around 30 days. For the Maritime Reserve, the minimum annual training commitment is generally 24 RSD, split between the delivery of operational capability output and support activity. For Royal Air Force Reserve, the minimum annual RSD is 27 days, though the average is 30 days.
Funds are allocated appropriately to deliver strategic objectives. In advance of the conclusions of the Strategic Defence Review and the review I have commissioned it would be inappropriate to anticipate future budgetary allocations.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 37538 on Army: Recruitment, if he will provide numbers by category for each year listed.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
It is taking time to interrogate the data and therefore it has not been possible to provide the answer in the time available. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as practical and will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on increasing the number of medical reservists joining the Armed Forces.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People working in the National Health Service have many transferable skills that can be of great benefit to the Armed Forces reserve, whether they be clinicians, such as doctors and nurses, or staff working in leadership or management roles. There have been no recent ministerial discussions on this issue. However, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Defence are working with NHS Employers to ensure that NHS organisations are supportive and flexible when it comes to people joining the Armed Forces reserve, and to enable individuals to train and deploy when needed.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of nursing posts are currently being filled by Bank Nurses in each Acute Hospital in the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB area.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the most frequent reasons were for new applicants to the Army being refused on medical grounds in each year since 2020.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
It is taking time to interrogate the data and therefore it has not been possible to provide the answer in the time available. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as practical and will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to produce a National Defence Plan.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence is supporting the Cabinet Office on the design and implementation of an internal-to-government Home Defence Programme. This will further enhance UK national security and resilience through bolstering civilian-military coordination and HMG’s overall preparedness.
The upcoming Strategic Defence Review will reflect the importance of strengthening national resilience and reinforcing the UK’s homeland security to keep the country safe and protect its citizens.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 35639 on Army: Food, if he will he publish the results of the Army Messing Survey 2021.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Army Messing Survey 2021 document was developed for an internal audience and there are no current plans to publish the results. The Department incorporated the feedback of this survey into the Army Exploring the Appetites of Today Soldiers (EATS) proposition, trialled across a series of 14-18 month pilots. The results of the pilots led to a final report published in 2023 and informed the development of the Defence Catering Strategy (DCS) - the implementation of which began in May in early 2024.
There are no plans for another wholesale review in the near term and, as referred to in my answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 35639, the DCS provides personnel with the opportunity to provide regular feedback through a wide variety of existing means so that we can continually improve food quality across Defence.