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the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of applications were (a) received and (b) voluntarily withdrawn to join the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in each year since 2010.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Year of Application | Applications Received | Applications Withdrawn | Proportion Withdrawn |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.
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 to join the full time (a) British Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force were received in financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The number of applications to the UK Armed Forces by Service for Financial Year 2023-24 is due to be published as part of the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics (SPS) publication; the provisional release date is August 2024. The latest SPS was published 1 January 2024 and 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, with reference to the Answer of 16 May 2023 to Question 184569 on Ministry of Defence: Data Protection, how many personal data breaches among suppliers contracted by his Department were reported to his Department in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 May 2023 to Question 184569. As an update to this information I can confirm that 12 incidents were reported to the Defence Industry Warning Advisory and Reporting Point in 2023. The data provided only includes security incidents that have been closed and are not under investigation. So far in 2024 there are no incidents that have been reported, investigated and closed.
Information on incidents between 2010 and 2020 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total contract value is for the New Medium Helicopter programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The New Medium Helicopter Contract Notice published in May 2022 stated a contract value range between £900 million to £1.2 billion.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when will (a) HMS Albion and (b) HMS Bulwark return to active service.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 April 2024 to Question 21289 to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Mr Luke Pollard). https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-04-12/21289
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department has (a) allocated to and (b) spent on the DragonFire programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapons accelerated programme, announced in April 2024 by the Secretary of State for Defence, will see £350 million in government investment by April 2027 to deliver minimum deployable capability. The accelerated programme is based on the DragonFire technology demonstrator which has seen £100 million of joint investment from MOD and UK industry since 2017. With £50 million funded by MOD and an additional £50 million funded by industry partners. The MOD is committed to the continued investment in UK Sovereign DEW technology, to provide cutting edge capability to the Armed Forces at pace.