Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Kerr Excerpts

Monday 18th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

9. What steps his Department is taking to increase recruitment into the armed forces.

[Stephen Kerr (Stirling) (Con)]

11. What steps his Department is taking to improve recruitment and retention in the armed forces.

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mark Lancaster)]

We remain committed to maintaining the overall size of the armed forces, and we have a range of measures under way to improve recruitment and retention. The challenge is kept under constant review. Importantly, the services continue to meet all their current commitments, keeping the country and its interests safe.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Kerr]

Will the Minister update the House on the results arising from the Army recruitment poster campaign last month? Has it enticed more women to apply? Has it enticed more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to apply to join the Army?

[Mark Lancaster]

The Army’s new campaign builds on last year’s successful “Belonging” adverts, which, as I said, took recruitment to a five-year high. The early signs are positive. At the moment, 12.4% of recruits are women and 6.5% are from the black, Asian and minority ethnic community. We are yet to see the audited results for the campaign, but we are confident that progress is being made.