Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the participation rates in the Continuous Attitude Surveys were for (a) the armed forces, (b) families and (c) the reserves in each of the last five years.

The Armed Forces constantly strive to sustain and improve the response rates for the three Continuous Attitude Surveys (CAS). We do this in various ways, including by reducing the burden on respondents by ensuring that the number of questions is minimised and that they are written in a straightforward way. We also ensure that the surveys reach their intended audience by tracking their distribution and using nominated points of contact at unit level to assist with the distribution of surveys and with communications. Units are given their individual response rates so they can gauge where they rank against other units and the chain of command is held responsible for maximising response rates. Response rates compare favourably with other large public sector organisations.

The requested information is provided below:

Notes:

1. Prior to ResCAS 2014 the Navy, Army and RAF ran separate, independent surveys among their Reservists. In 2014 the individual Reserve surveys included a set of harmonised Tri-Service questions and by ResCAS 2015 the individual Reserve surveys also included a harmonised methodology and target population. Due to the changes in the survey methodology and target population in 2015, the results and response rates between ResCAS 2014 and later ResCAS surveys are not comparable.