Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Sollom Excerpts

Monday 1st June 2026 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Ian Sollom (St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

1. What steps he is taking to improve recruitment and retention in the armed forces.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (John Healey)]

May I start by condemning the reckless Russian drone strike on Romania early on Friday morning? We stand with Romania and all our NATO allies. I have commissioned UK options for contributing to any NATO-led actions to strengthen Romania, should that be required.

The previous Government left forces recruitment and retention in crisis. They set and missed targets every year for 14 years. We are renewing the nation’s commitment to those who serve through the biggest pay rise for over 20 years, free childcare for forces families across the UK, and the biggest upgrade to forces housing in a generation. Armed forces numbers are now growing; that is part of the transformation of defence through the defence investment plan, which, I can tell the House, the Prime Minister is determined to publish before the NATO summit.

[Ian Sollom]

I thank the Minister for his answer—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Francois, you will have two questions in a moment. I am sure you can hold on for just a minute.

[Ian Sollom]

Joining the armed forces demands a huge personal commitment from young people, but those who put their hand up to serve can wait the best part of a year or more, with little communication, no sense of progress, and real frustration that their commitment to our country is not being matched. That frustration often leads them to seek different opportunities. Does the Secretary of State agree that solving the recruitment problem is not just about improving an online portal, but about building a genuine relationship with potential recruits from day one? What is he doing to deliver that now, ahead of the new portal roll-out next year?