Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the interview by the Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families with the Financial Times on 9 August 2023, what recent estimate he has made of the shortfall of (a) engineers, (b) chefs and (c) psychiatrists in the armed forces.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) undertakes detailed workforce planning for the Armed Forces but does not publish projections of trained strength. MOD places information on skills gaps in the public domain as part of the Annual Report and Accounts each year, the latest edition of which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023