Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the trained personnel strength of the Royal Marines on (1) 1 April 2010, (2) 1 April 2016, and (3) what do they estimate will be the trained personnel strength on 1 April 2025.

As at 1 January 2021, the current Full Time Trained Strength of the Royal Marines is 5,968. On 1 April 2010 and 1 April 2016, the Full Time Trained Strength of the Royal Marines was 7,082 and 6,921 respectively.

The recent Defence Command Paper announced that the Royal Marines will transition into the Future Commando Force and adopt new and autonomous capabilities. As a result, force structures will change but decisions are yet to be made on the future size of the Royal Marines.