Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Recruitment and Retention

Monday 16 March 2020 · 1 question

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions took place on 2020-03-16 regarding recruitment and retention.
  • Antony Higginbotham asked about reopening the Burnley recruitment office, closed in 2013, due to Burnley's strong tradition of armed forces service.
  • The Minister responded that armed forces career offices were reduced to increase efficiency and to reflect modern recruiting methods, which now heavily rely on online platforms and social media.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Antony Higginbotham Con Burnley
Defence
Context

Discusses the importance of Burnley's tradition in service recruitment and highlights the closure of the local recruitment office in 2013.

Question

Burnley has a long and proud tradition when it comes to service and recruitment into the armed forces. With that in mind, will the Minister agree to look at the viability of reopening the Burnley recruitment office, which was closed in 2013? That would make a valuable contribution to keeping Burnley's tradition alive.

Answer from James Heappey (Minister for Defence People and Veterans)

Armed forces career offices were reduced to increase efficiency and to reflect the modern society from which we are recruiting. Most recruiting activity occurs online, through chat facilities or through call centres, and it is vital that we maintain strong presences on social media and elsewhere on the internet, but we of course continually review the lay-down of our recruiting offices, and we will look again at the one in Burnley.

Answered
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