Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the additional £0.4 billion 2025-26 resource DEL allocated to Defence at the Spring Statement will be spent on additional service personnel; and if he will make an estimate of the number of additional personnel that will be recruited as a result.

The Department is committed to taking decisive action to address recruitment and retention challenges that we inherited from the last administration and strengthen our Armed Forces, including launching the new, combined Armed Forces Recruitment Service in 2027.

These initiatives are funded from our existing spending plans and will not draw on the additional funding announced in the Spring Statement.