Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Armed Forces: Recruitment and Retention

Monday 21 September 2020 · 3 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Department hit 93% of recruitment inflow target in 2019-20 despite COVID disruption.
  • Recruitment has increased by 31% since 2018-19.
  • Training throughput has been impacted by the initial effects of the pandemic, leading to lower throughflow.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jerome Mayhew Con Broadland and Fakenham
Defence
Context

The MP is concerned about the impact of COVID on recruitment targets for the armed forces, noting that despite initial success, there are concerns over training throughput.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to recruit and retain armed forces personnel. Despite hitting 93% of inflow target in 2019-20 due to disruption from COVID, recruitment has increased by 31% since 2018-19. However, the impact on training throughput persists with lower throughflow expected.

Answer from James Heappey

During the 2019-20 recruiting year, despite covid disruption at year-end, the armed forces hit 93% of inflow target; recruitment was 31% up from 2018-19. Training throughput has been impacted by initial effects of the pandemic, leading to lower throughflow in short term but mitigated by improved retention and rejoiners.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific actions or commitments for addressing recruitment challenges due to the pandemic were not provided beyond acknowledging the current situation.

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Q2 Jerome Mayhew Con Broadland and Fakenham
Defence Employment
Context

The MP highlights the increase in unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds due to COVID, proposing that this could be an opportunity to meet recruitment targets for full-time trained personnel.

Question

As a response to covid, we have seen the unemployment figures start to rise, and that is particularly reflected in the 18 to 24-year-old demographic. Do the Government agree that this is an opportunity to recruit, and perhaps even to meet our full-time trained requirement for the first time since the year 2000? Does the Minister agree that a career in the armed forces represents an excellent career life choice, and that now is a better time than ever to sign up?

Answer from James Heappey

Emphatically, yes.

Not addressed: The question was not answered with any specific details or commitments regarding the opportunity to recruit young people during periods of high unemployment.

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Q3 Stephen Morgan Lab Portsmouth South
Defence
Context

The MP references a recent statement by the Secretary of State and highlights that numbers of personnel in each tri-service have declined over the last decade.

Question

The Secretary of State recently said that 'the greatest asset we have is not our tanks or our aeroplanes, it's people.' Yet under the last 10 years of Conservative Government, the numbers of personnel in each of the tri-services have declined. With this in mind, will the Minister make it a priority under the integrated review to address the failure to maintain the strength of our armed forces?

Answer from James Heappey

The hon. Gentleman tempts me to pre-empt the decisions of the Prime Minister and the integrated review. However, I can assure him that recruiting targets remain as they were, and while the sun is shining we will be making hay.

Not addressed: The specific question about addressing personnel decline during the integrated review was not directly addressed.

How: Pre-Empting Decisions, Using Metaphorical Language

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