Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the Department has spent on the Ajax programme as of 14 May 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
As of 14 May 2024, £4.096 billion has been paid against the General Dynamics Ajax contract milestone payment plan.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many programme milestones the Ajax programme has (a) passed and (b) missed since January 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Since January 2023, one Ajax programme milestone has been successfully achieved and no programme milestones have been missed.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of when Ajax will have (a) initial and (b) full operating capability.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Regarding Ajax’s Initial Operating Capability, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him 16 January 2024 to Question 9150. Ajax’s Full Operating Capability is expected to be achieved between October 2028 and September 2029.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications were made to join the Maritime Reserves in each month since January 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Below are the requested figures counted to September 2023. Due to how recruiting data is collected, these are the most up to date figures.
Application | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
Regular | 3060 | 2575 | 2434 | 1793 | 1883 | 2028 | 2573 | 2470 | 1837 |
Reserve | 238 | 225 | 217 | 185 | 151 | 193 | 292 | 280 | 213 |
Figures define an application as an online application submitted by an individual and accepted by the Recruit Information Technology System, the application system.
With reference to the Rt Hon Gentleman’s similar WPQ of 6 Mar 24, note that the definition used to identify applications before Sept 2017 differs from that used after. Previously an application would be counted after a candidate had submitted an Armed Forces Career Office Form 4 and sat the Recruit Test. As a result, application data after Sept 2017 is not comparable to application data prior to Sept 2017.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications were received to join the full time Royal Navy in each month since January 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Below are the requested figures counted to September 2023. Due to how recruiting data is collected, these are the most up to date figures.
Application | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
Regular | 3060 | 2575 | 2434 | 1793 | 1883 | 2028 | 2573 | 2470 | 1837 |
Reserve | 238 | 225 | 217 | 185 | 151 | 193 | 292 | 280 | 213 |
Figures define an application as an online application submitted by an individual and accepted by the Recruit Information Technology System, the application system.
With reference to the Rt Hon Gentleman’s similar WPQ of 6 Mar 24, note that the definition used to identify applications before Sept 2017 differs from that used after. Previously an application would be counted after a candidate had submitted an Armed Forces Career Office Form 4 and sat the Recruit Test. As a result, application data after Sept 2017 is not comparable to application data prior to Sept 2017.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) recruitment target and (b) actual intake was for the the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Recruiting Year | Total Intake | Recruitment Target |
2023-24 | 229 | 204 |
Intake figures are sourced from RN Recruit & Attract and include internal lateral qualified entry, which was introduced in July 2023, promotions to officer, and other internal movements, all of which are counted against the intake target. The intake of new recruits to the RFA was 180, as confirmed by Navy Analysis.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of new recruits joined the (a) British army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force in financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Intake to the UK Regular Forces by Service for the full 2023-24 Financial Year is due to be published as part of the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics (SPS); publication is planned for 30 May 2024. The most recent SPS publication, from 1 January 2024, can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2024
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which organisation manages the recruitment system for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Navy Recruit and Attract, under Direction of Director People and Training, is the organisation that manages the recruitment of potential Candidates wishing to join the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, as direct entry or as qualified Service transfers.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of applications were (a) received and (b) voluntarily withdrawn to join the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The information requested by the right hon. Member is as follows:
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Applications | |||
Year of Application | Applications Received | Applications Withdrawn | Proportion Withdrawn |
2011-12 | 246 | 101 | 41% |
2012-13 | 925 | 360 | 39% |
2013-14 | 1,375 | 540 | 39% |
2014-15 | 2,003 | 360 | 18% |
2015-16 | 2,549 | 282 | 11% |
2016-17 | 2,595 | 279 | 11% |
2017-18 | 2.369 | 610 | 26% |
2018-19 | 2,586 | 1,035 | 40% |
2019-20 | 2,154 | 874 | 41% |
2020-21 | 3,204 | 1,405 | 44% |
2021-22 | 2,088 | 982 | 47% |
2022-23 | 1,994 | 893 | 45% |
2023-24 | 2,502 | 814 | 33% |
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his speech at the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power conference on 14 May 2024, what the average time is to process an application to join the Royal Navy.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The Royal Navy (RN) is focussed on reducing the amount of time needed to complete the recruiting process and has streamlined its processes to that end. The Secretary of State’s speech referenced the average time taken to bid for entry only for those who have applied for Regular Royal Navy Other Ranks (OR) roles since September 2023. Please note that the time of applications will vary based on role and context. To disaggregate and calculate averages from the information available to the RN as a whole, sourcing the requested information would take a disproportionate amount of time and cost to collate.