Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on delivery of the Future Reserves 2020 programme; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier

Our programme to grow the Reserve forces remains on track. We have made a number of improvements to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer reservists by 31 March 2019. Central to this is an improved offer, which includes better training, better equipment, improved remuneration and an improved experience for reservists.

We have also widened the opportunity for reservists to contribute on operations and established a new relationship with employers as well as improving the support available to employers when a reservist employee is mobilised. These actions are in addition to improving capacity and flow in the recruiting process and our marketing campaigns.

As a result, more reservists are joining either as new entrants to the military or with prior experience either in the Regulars or in the Reserves. 8,660 joined the FR20 Volunteer Reserve in the 12 months to 1 November 2015, a 56% rise on the equivalent period a year earlier, and the trained strength has risen to 26,290, ahead of target.