IT Systems (Army Recruitment) Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

IT Systems (Army Recruitment)

Jason McCartney Excerpts
Tuesday 14th January 2014

(10 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Hammond of Runnymede Portrait Mr Hammond
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The important thing in a Department as large and complex as the Ministry of Defence, with a budget of £33 billion a year, is not to pretend that we can operate the vast range of contracts and arrangements we have in place without some failures. That is never going to happen. The challenge is to grip failure when it becomes apparent, and to manage and resolve it as quickly and efficiently as possible. I am prepared to stand on my record of delivering that kind of outcome.

Jason McCartney Portrait Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)
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As an officer commanding the Royal Air Force recruiting offices in Newcastle and Middlesbrough, I saw at first hand the challenges of recruiting particular trades and branches—at the time it was aerospace systems operators, and Royal Air Force regiment gunners. Will my right hon. Friend say what implications and consequences there have been for Royal Navy and Royal Air Force recruiting as a result of some of the challenges with Army recruiting in recent months?

Lord Hammond of Runnymede Portrait Mr Hammond
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The platform that the Army is putting in place is ultimately intended to deliver for all three services, but at the moment it is the Army that is principally affected by those problems. I understand that Royal Auxiliary Air Force recruitment is going extremely well at the moment.