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Written Question
Armed Forces: Recruitment
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many men and women were recruited into the armed forces reserves in each of the past five years; and how many vacancies are there currently.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Data on recruitment into the three Services is presented in the tables below.

The Integrated Review and Spending Review (IR/SR) introduced greater flexibility in how Defence could employ its workforce types (Armed Forces Regular, Reserve, Defence Civilian and Contractors). This has made the continued use of a fixed workforce requirement for individual components of the Whole Force less appropriate. We are in the process of agreeing a new Indicative Planned Strength (IPS) which reflects both the Whole Force Strategic Workforce plans that are being finalised and changes in organisational structure introduced following the IR/SR. Comparison of the IPS and published statistics on Armed Forces strength will make any shortfalls evident.

Table 1: UK Regular1 Personnel Intake2 by Gender4 in the past five years5 in each Service

1 Oct 2018 to 30 Sep 2019

1 Oct 2019 to 30 Sep 2020

1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021

1 Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2022

1 Oct 2022 to 30 Sep 2023

Total

14,880

14,590

17,070

11,980

10,470

Female

1,600

1,630

1,940

1,420

1,220

Male

13,280

12,960

15,130

10,570

9,250

RN/RM

3,290

3,780

3,950

3,160

2,400

Female

350

390

420

310

280

Male

2,940

3,400

3,520

2,850

2,120

Army

9,080

8,470

10,600

6,760

6,310

Female

820

880

1,030

730

660

Male

8,260

7,590

9,570

6,030

5,650

RAF

2,510

2,330

2,520

2,060

1,760

Female

440

360

490

380

280

Male

2,080

1,970

2,040

1,680

1,480

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

Table 2: FR203 Personnel Intake by Gender4 in the Past five Financial Years5 in each Service

1 Oct 2018 to 30 Sep 2019

1 Oct 2019 to 30 Sep 2020

1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021

1 Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2022

1 Oct 2022 to 30 Sep 2023

Total

5,710

5,020

5,700

3,720

3,780

Female

900

760

950

600

540

Male

4,820

4,270

4,750

3,120

3,240

RM/RN

970

800

770

350

470

Female

150

150

150

70

50

Male

820

640

610

280

420

Army

4,080

3,680

4,440

2,890

2,880

Female

540

470

690

400

390

Male

3,540

3,210

3,750

2,490

2,490

RAF

660

550

500

480

430

Female

200

130

110

130

100

Male

460

420

390

350

330

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

Notes/Caveats:

1. UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel, Non Regular Permanent Staff, High Readiness Reserve and Expeditionary Forces Institute personnel. Unless otherwise stated, includes Trained and Untrained personnel.

2. Intake comprises all personnel joining the Armed Forces either as new entrants or re-entrants.

3. Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Volunteer Reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment or Full Time Reserve Service contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff, Expeditionary Forces Institute, University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.

4. Gender is a self-reported field on the Joint Personnel Administration System.

5. The yearly Intake-Periods are defined as the 12 months ending 30 September for each respective year.

6. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with disclosure control policy. Figures ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systematic bias. Please note that due to rounding, the total figures in the above tables may not equal the corresponding sum of figures for each Service.

7. These figures can be found in Tables 7 and 23 in the last five October Editions of the "UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics" published on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index


Written Question
Armed Forces: Recruitment
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many men and women were recruited into (1) the Army, (2) the Navy, and (3) the Air Force, in each of the past five years; and how many vacancies there are currently in each service.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Data on recruitment into the three Services is presented in the tables below.

The Integrated Review and Spending Review (IR/SR) introduced greater flexibility in how Defence could employ its workforce types (Armed Forces Regular, Reserve, Defence Civilian and Contractors). This has made the continued use of a fixed workforce requirement for individual components of the Whole Force less appropriate. We are in the process of agreeing a new Indicative Planned Strength (IPS) which reflects both the Whole Force Strategic Workforce plans that are being finalised and changes in organisational structure introduced following the IR/SR. Comparison of the IPS and published statistics on Armed Forces strength will make any shortfalls evident.

Table 1: UK Regular1 Personnel Intake2 by Gender4 in the past five years5 in each Service

1 Oct 2018 to 30 Sep 2019

1 Oct 2019 to 30 Sep 2020

1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021

1 Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2022

1 Oct 2022 to 30 Sep 2023

Total

14,880

14,590

17,070

11,980

10,470

Female

1,600

1,630

1,940

1,420

1,220

Male

13,280

12,960

15,130

10,570

9,250

RN/RM

3,290

3,780

3,950

3,160

2,400

Female

350

390

420

310

280

Male

2,940

3,400

3,520

2,850

2,120

Army

9,080

8,470

10,600

6,760

6,310

Female

820

880

1,030

730

660

Male

8,260

7,590

9,570

6,030

5,650

RAF

2,510

2,330

2,520

2,060

1,760

Female

440

360

490

380

280

Male

2,080

1,970

2,040

1,680

1,480

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

Table 2: FR203 Personnel Intake by Gender4 in the Past five Financial Years5 in each Service

1 Oct 2018 to 30 Sep 2019

1 Oct 2019 to 30 Sep 2020

1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021

1 Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2022

1 Oct 2022 to 30 Sep 2023

Total

5,710

5,020

5,700

3,720

3,780

Female

900

760

950

600

540

Male

4,820

4,270

4,750

3,120

3,240

RM/RN

970

800

770

350

470

Female

150

150

150

70

50

Male

820

640

610

280

420

Army

4,080

3,680

4,440

2,890

2,880

Female

540

470

690

400

390

Male

3,540

3,210

3,750

2,490

2,490

RAF

660

550

500

480

430

Female

200

130

110

130

100

Male

460

420

390

350

330

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

Notes/Caveats:

1. UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel, Non Regular Permanent Staff, High Readiness Reserve and Expeditionary Forces Institute personnel. Unless otherwise stated, includes Trained and Untrained personnel.

2. Intake comprises all personnel joining the Armed Forces either as new entrants or re-entrants.

3. Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Volunteer Reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment or Full Time Reserve Service contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff, Expeditionary Forces Institute, University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.

4. Gender is a self-reported field on the Joint Personnel Administration System.

5. The yearly Intake-Periods are defined as the 12 months ending 30 September for each respective year.

6. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with disclosure control policy. Figures ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systematic bias. Please note that due to rounding, the total figures in the above tables may not equal the corresponding sum of figures for each Service.

7. These figures can be found in Tables 7 and 23 in the last five October Editions of the "UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics" published on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index


Written Question
Defence: Recruitment
Friday 15th December 2023

Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 70 on Defence: Recruitment, what proportion of new employees in his Department were women in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The requested information is provided in the following tables:

Percentage of Female UK Regulars and Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) personnel intake by calendar year, 2021 - 2022

2021

2022

UK Regulars

12.2%

11.7%

Future Reserves 2020

17.0%

16.4%

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

Table Notes:

UK Regulars include Full Time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, Mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel.

Figures include trained and untrained personnel.

Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reservists and Volunteer Reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment or Full Time Reserve Service contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost-effective solution than Volunteer Reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff, Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.

Figures comprise personnel joining the Armed Forces either as new entrants or re-entrants.

The percentages given in the table refer to the proportion of female intake from the total intake.

Percentage of Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civilian female inflow by calendar year, 2021 – 2022

2021

2022

Female Civilians

41.8%

43.5%

Source: Analysis (Civilian)

Table Notes:

MOD civilian figures include MOD Main Top Level Budgetary areas (TLB), UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO), Defence Science Technology Laboratories (DSTL), Defence Electronics Components Agency (DECA), Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA). Figures exclude Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and Locally Engaged Civilians (LEC).

Inflow may include civilian rejoiners.


Written Question
Reserve Forces
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he (a) received and (b) plans to publish the Reserves Forces' and Cadets' Association External Scrutiny Team 2022 Report.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Reserves Forces' and Cadets' Association External Scrutiny Team 2022 Report was received on 8 September 2022. The Secretary of State for Defence will issue a full Departmental response to the report in the coming weeks. A copy of the report and the response will be placed in the Library of the House together.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Departmental Responsibilities
Wednesday 23rd November 2022

Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the responsibilities are of the (a) Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families and (b) Minister for Veterans’ Affairs.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families is responsible for all policy matters relating to Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian and service personnel including reserves, cadets, and armed forces families. This includes (but is not limited to) recruitment and retention, accommodation, remuneration, health and wellbeing, education and training, service complaints and the Service Justice System, diversity and inclusion, transition and the Armed Forces Covenant. The Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families is also responsible for MOD provided veteran services including Veterans UK and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees (VAPCs), and the Veterans Welfare Service.

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs attends Cabinet and has responsibility for coordinating cross-Government support for our veterans, through the Office for Veterans' Affairs in the Cabinet Office. This includes (but is not limited to) developing and assuring delivery of the Veterans Strategy and Action plan; commissioning research and improving evidence and data on the veteran community; developing and supporting policy and delivery by other Government Departments; and communications of support for veterans and their positive contribution to society.


Written Question
Cadets and Reserve Forces: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to increase awareness of the potential merits of joining the Reserve Forces and Cadets in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Sarah Atherton

The single Services have provided the following information:

Royal Navy

Based in Lisburn, HMS Hibernia is Northern Ireland's Royal Naval Reserve Unit. This Unit has a proactive recruiting posture and is regularly represented in colleges and careers fairs, as well as through online recruiting events. HMS HIBERNIA has also participated in Northern Ireland Armed Forces Day activities, as well as delivering Employer Engagement events.

The Royal Navy Cadet Forces are well represented in Northern Ireland with three units of the Combined Cadet Force and eleven units of the Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) across the Province, and a further two SCC units currently under consideration.

British Army

Advertising opportunities in Northern Ireland for Army roles takes shape in the exact same way as it does in the rest of the UK. In addition, the Army's Recruiting Group support three large events in Northern Ireland which cover both Regular and Reserve streams, providing recruiting literature which is specific to Northern Ireland. At a tactical level, the Army's Recruiting Group provides unit-specific recruiting literature and the last order saw around 15,000 personalised leaflets sent to units in Northern Ireland.

For Cadets, the #NoFilter campaign to recruit both new Cadets and adult volunteers ran for two weeks in Northern Ireland in February 2022, using outdoor media, streamed radio advertising and social media targeting. There was a marked increase in applications submitted during the two weeks the campaign was run.

Royal Air Force (RAF)

Air Officer Northern Ireland has an extensive, ongoing, regional Engagement Strategy to raise awareness of the RAF in Northern Ireland, often using 502 (Ulster) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force in its delivery. This provides the RAF Reserves with the opportunity to show who they are, tell their story, and highlight the benefits of Reserve Service. Activity and events that raise awareness are underpinned by regional recruiting and selecting radio advertisements and national television adverts which also promote the opportunities and benefits.

There is also a continual focus on promoting the benefits, values and experience that Royal Air Force Air Cadet membership brings to youth in Northern Ireland, as well as a direct effort to enlarge the footprint of Cadet units.


Written Question
Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations
Monday 30th May 2022

Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the 2021 report of the RFCA External Scrutiny Team was received by his office; and when he plans to publish it.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The Ministry of Defence received the Reserves Forces External Scrutiny Team's report last year.

A copy of the report was placed in the Library of the House on 26 May 2022: Reserve Forces and Cadets Association External Scrutiny Team Report 2021 DEP2022-0444.


Written Question
British Overseas Territories: Armed Forces
Tuesday 29th March 2022

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people from the British Overseas Territories have served in the British Armed forces in each of the last five years, by each Overseas Territory.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The table below shows the number of personnel from the British Overseas Territories serving in the trained and untrained Regular and Reserve Armed Forces between 2017 and 2021. Nationality is recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. JPA allows personnel to select British Overseas Territory Citizen (BOTC), or one of five specific territories. The vast majority of personnel select the BOTC option. It is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown of all British Overseas Territories.

Table 1: Number of British Overseas Territory1 UK Regulars2 and Future Reserves 20203 personnel serving in each calendar year4 between 2017 and 2021.

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

British Overseas Territory Citizen5

160

150

140

110

70

British Virgin Islander

~

~

~

~

~

Cayman Islander

~

~

-

-

-

Gibraltarian

~

~

~

~

~

Monserratian

~

~

~

~

~

St Helenian

10

10

10

~

~

Grand Total

170

160

150

120

80

Notes:

Nationality is as recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration database. Primary nationality has been used, so people with only a secondary nationality of a British Overseas Territory have not been included.

UK Regulars include Full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, MPGS, LEP and NRPS.

Future Reserves 2020 includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, HRR and volunteer reserve personnel serving on ADC or FTRS contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.

If a service person has been recorded as having a British Overseas Territory as a primary Nationality at least once within each year, then they have been recorded once within that year.

British Overseas Territories Citizens includes personnel from Anguila, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. This could mean the populations for British Virgin Islander, Cayman Islander, Gibraltarian, Monserratian and St Helenian are under-represented.

Figures for both UK Regulars and FR20 include both trained and untrained personnel.

Figures in this publication have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. Figures 5 or less have been indicated with a "~" and where there are no personnel has been indicated by a "-".


Written Question
Reserve Forces: Recruitment
Tuesday 30th November 2021

Asked by: Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government to ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been successfully recruited to the (1) British Army Reserve, (2) RAF Reserve, and (3) Royal Naval Reserve, in each of the last five years.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The requested information can be found in the table below:

Intake to Future Reserves 2020 Strength by Service for 12 Months Ending 30 June for the years 2017 to 2021

12 months ending as at:

30 June 2017

30 June 2018

30 June 2019

30 June 2020

30 June 2021

Maritime Reserve

850

750

920

880

800

Army Reserve

4,930

3,780

3,820

4,050

4,260

Royal Air Force Reserve

660

660

620

530

530

Future Reserves 2020 Total

6,440

5,190

5,360

5,460

5,590

Notes to Table:
1. Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves (HRR), and volunteer reserve (VR) personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment (ADC) or Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost-effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non-Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded. This cohort includes both trained and untrained personnel

2. FR20 programme monitoring intake statistics are derived by month-on-month comparisons of strength. These figures comprise any intake into the FR20 trained and untrained populations and include personnel coming from the Regular Armed Forces, or any other reserve population not included in the FR20

3. All Services intake includes transfers between the Maritime Reserve, Army Reserve (Gp A) inc. VR FTRS and RAF Reserves

4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. Additionally, totals and sub-totals are rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.


Written Question
Army: Reserve Forces
Thursday 14th October 2021

Asked by: Lord De Mauley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many serving major generals there are in the Army Reserve, listed by name and post; and how many there will be after implementation of the Integrated Review.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

As at 1 July 2021, there are five trained FR20 Reserves of Paid Rank Major General. These are:

Major General Brooks-Ward - Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets). This is a Joint Competition appointment and could also be filled by the RN or RAF if selected by the Senior Appointments Committee.

Major General Graham - Director Reserves, Army Headquarters.

Major General Harvey - Deputy Commander Field Army.

Major General Ashmore – Army Reserve Reinforcement Group

Major General Herbert - Army Reserve Reinforcement Group

Notes/ Caveats:

1. The Trained FR20 population in the table consists of Group A Army Reserves, some Sponsored Reserves and those personnel serving on FTRS contracts who were previously Army Reservists.

2. The figure above includes Major Generals that contribute towards the previously defined FR20 population and excludes those personnel who do not. E.g., those Reservists on service complaint panels and the Governor of Edinburgh Castle.

3. Figures are as at 1 July 2021 in line with the protocols for release of personnel statistics.

Detailed plans for the future structure of the Army are still being refined. There will be announcements made on our intent for both the regular and reserve force in due course.