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Written Question
Armed Forces: Christianity
Monday 4th December 2017

Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many armed service personnel in (1) the army, (2) the Royal Navy, (3) the Royal Marines, (4) the Royal Air Force, and (5) the reserves in each of those forces, are recorded as being members of (a) the Church of England, Anglican, or Episcopal churches, (b) the Roman Catholic Church, (c) the Presbyterian Church, (d) the Church of Scotland, (e) the Baptist Church, (f) the Salvation Army, (g) Free Churches, (h) the Methodist Church, (i) the United Reformed Church, (j) the Free Presbyterian Church, (k) the Greek Orthodox Church, and (l) other Christian churches.

Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

The Ministry of Defence publishes Biannual Diversity Statistics, the latest of which provides information as at 1 April 2017 and can be found on the Government website at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/ statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2017. These statistics include a breakdown, by Service, of the numbers of Armed Forces personnel by self-declared religion. Tables 4 and 17 provide a detailed breakdown for, respectively, UK Regulars and the Future Reserves 2020 population.

The requested information for the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Marines (RM), the Army and the RAF, as at 1 April 2017, is provided below:

RN and RM

Army

RAF

Total

Buddhist

40

690

50

780

Christian

22,320

62,820

23,630

108,770

Christian Tradition

60

90

50

210

Hindu

20

1,080

40

1,140

Judaism

10

50

10

80

Muslim

40

440

50

530

Sikh

10

140

20

170

Other Religions

190

500

170

870

No Religion

9,820

17,740

8,980

36,530

Unknown

20

10

260

290

Reserve Service Personnel by Religion

RN and RM

Army

RAF

Total

Buddhist

10

80

10

90

Christian

2,430

22,290

1,530

26,240

Christian Tradition

10

60

10

80

Hindu

10

170

10

180

Judaism

~

30

~

40

Muslim

10

160

10

170

Sikh

~

50

~

60

Other Religions

50

170

30

240

No Religion

810

6,800

490

8,110

Unknown

230

140

640

1,010

Regular Service Personnel of Christian and Christian Tradition faith split by denomination

RN

RM

Army

RAF

Total

Church of England Scottish Episcopal Church

10,490

2,870

36,590

15,240

65,200

10

~

30

10

50

Roman Catholic

2,610

670

9,140

3,150

15,570

Presbyterian

90

20

200

110

420

Church of Scotland

930

160

3,370

1,290

5,760

Baptist

80

20

360

150

600

Salvation Army

10

10

60

20

90

Free Church of Scotland United Free Church of Scotland

10

~

10

10

30

~

~

~

~

10

Methodist

420

70

1,760

620

2,870

United Reformed Church

20

~

50

40

100

Free Presbyterian

10

10

790

10

800

Greek Orthodox

~

~

10

~

20

Other Christian churches

2,750

1,120

10,550

3,040

17,460

Reserve Service Personnel of Christian and Christian Tradition faith split by denomination

RN

RM

Army

RAF

Total

Church of England

1,100

270

12,130

990

14,490

Scottish Episcopal Church

~

~

30

~

30

Roman Catholic

260

100

3,500

190

4,050

Presbyterian

20

~

120

10

150

Church of Scotland

130

30

1,600

100

1,850

Baptist

10

~

170

10

190

Salvation Army

~

~

20

~

20

Free Church of Scotland

10

~

10

~

20

United Free Church of Scotland

~

~

~

~

~

Methodist

60

10

530

40

630

United Reformed Church

~

~

20

~

30

Free Presbyterian

~

~

510

~

510

Greek Orthodox

~

~

10

~

10

Other Christian churches

320

130

3,690

200

4,340

Note: ‘Christian’ includes personnel declaring the following on Joint Personnel Administration (JPA): Christian Tradition, Christian Scientist, Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), Jehovah's Witness, Unitarian and Other Christian Tradition.

‘Other Religions’ includes personnel declaring the following on Joint Personnel Administration (JPA): Druid, Pagan, Rastafarian, Spiritualist, Zoroastrian (Parsee), Wicca, Baha'i and Other Religions.

‘Unknown’ includes those with an unrecorded religion and those who choose not to declare.

Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, although 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. For example; a value of 25 would be rounded down to 20 and a value of 15 would be rounded up to 20.

Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

Declaration of religion is not mandatory for Armed Forces personnel. These statistics only relate to personnel who have made a declaration. At 1 April 2017, the proportion of personnel who had made a declaration was 99.8 per cent of UK Regular Forces, and 97.2 per cent of Future Reserves 2020.

Written Question
Armed Forces: Religion
Monday 4th December 2017

Asked by: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many armed service personnel in (1) the army, (2) the Royal Navy, (3) the Royal Marines, (4) the Royal Air Force, and (5) the reserves in each of those forces, are recorded as being (a) Buddhist, (b) Hindu, (c) Jewish, (d) Muslim, (e) Sikh, or (f) of any other non-Christian religion.

Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

The Ministry of Defence publishes Biannual Diversity Statistics, the latest of which provides information as at 1 April 2017 and can be found on the Government website at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/ statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2017. These statistics include a breakdown, by Service, of the numbers of Armed Forces personnel by self-declared religion. Tables 4 and 17 provide a detailed breakdown for, respectively, UK Regulars and the Future Reserves 2020 population.

The requested information for the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Marines (RM), the Army and the RAF, as at 1 April 2017, is provided below:

RN and RM

Army

RAF

Total

Buddhist

40

690

50

780

Christian

22,320

62,820

23,630

108,770

Christian Tradition

60

90

50

210

Hindu

20

1,080

40

1,140

Judaism

10

50

10

80

Muslim

40

440

50

530

Sikh

10

140

20

170

Other Religions

190

500

170

870

No Religion

9,820

17,740

8,980

36,530

Unknown

20

10

260

290

Reserve Service Personnel by Religion

RN and RM

Army

RAF

Total

Buddhist

10

80

10

90

Christian

2,430

22,290

1,530

26,240

Christian Tradition

10

60

10

80

Hindu

10

170

10

180

Judaism

~

30

~

40

Muslim

10

160

10

170

Sikh

~

50

~

60

Other Religions

50

170

30

240

No Religion

810

6,800

490

8,110

Unknown

230

140

640

1,010

Regular Service Personnel of Christian and Christian Tradition faith split by denomination

RN

RM

Army

RAF

Total

Church of England Scottish Episcopal Church

10,490

2,870

36,590

15,240

65,200

10

~

30

10

50

Roman Catholic

2,610

670

9,140

3,150

15,570

Presbyterian

90

20

200

110

420

Church of Scotland

930

160

3,370

1,290

5,760

Baptist

80

20

360

150

600

Salvation Army

10

10

60

20

90

Free Church of Scotland United Free Church of Scotland

10

~

10

10

30

~

~

~

~

10

Methodist

420

70

1,760

620

2,870

United Reformed Church

20

~

50

40

100

Free Presbyterian

10

10

790

10

800

Greek Orthodox

~

~

10

~

20

Other Christian churches

2,750

1,120

10,550

3,040

17,460

Reserve Service Personnel of Christian and Christian Tradition faith split by denomination

RN

RM

Army

RAF

Total

Church of England

1,100

270

12,130

990

14,490

Scottish Episcopal Church

~

~

30

~

30

Roman Catholic

260

100

3,500

190

4,050

Presbyterian

20

~

120

10

150

Church of Scotland

130

30

1,600

100

1,850

Baptist

10

~

170

10

190

Salvation Army

~

~

20

~

20

Free Church of Scotland

10

~

10

~

20

United Free Church of Scotland

~

~

~

~

~

Methodist

60

10

530

40

630

United Reformed Church

~

~

20

~

30

Free Presbyterian

~

~

510

~

510

Greek Orthodox

~

~

10

~

10

Other Christian churches

320

130

3,690

200

4,340

Note: ‘Christian’ includes personnel declaring the following on Joint Personnel Administration (JPA): Christian Tradition, Christian Scientist, Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), Jehovah's Witness, Unitarian and Other Christian Tradition.

‘Other Religions’ includes personnel declaring the following on Joint Personnel Administration (JPA): Druid, Pagan, Rastafarian, Spiritualist, Zoroastrian (Parsee), Wicca, Baha'i and Other Religions.

‘Unknown’ includes those with an unrecorded religion and those who choose not to declare.

Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, although 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. For example; a value of 25 would be rounded down to 20 and a value of 15 would be rounded up to 20.

Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

Declaration of religion is not mandatory for Armed Forces personnel. These statistics only relate to personnel who have made a declaration. At 1 April 2017, the proportion of personnel who had made a declaration was 99.8 per cent of UK Regular Forces, and 97.2 per cent of Future Reserves 2020.

Speech in Grand Committee - Tue 12 Sep 2017
Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill [HL]

"My Lords, I will just comment on Amendment 5. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, challenged the use of the word “right” during the pre-meeting we had in July. The idea here is that we relinquish the principle of having a right in favour of a “working arrangement”.

Of …..."
Baroness Burt of Solihull - View Speech

View all Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill [HL]
Speech in Grand Committee - Tue 12 Sep 2017
Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill [HL]

"I am grateful to the noble and gallant Lord for that clarification. However, I would still suggest to the Committee that substituting the principle of a right for that of a working relationship in any context in which it occurs in these new elements of the Bill would not be …..."
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Speech in Grand Committee - Tue 12 Sep 2017
Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill [HL]

"My Lords, Amendment 8 is in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Jolly. This may be an appropriate moment to apologise to the Committee, rather than to the House, for my misuse of terminology. I also apologise to the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig. I have …..."
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Speech in Grand Committee - Tue 12 Sep 2017
Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill [HL]

"My Lords, I wish to speak to Amendment 16 tabled in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Jolly. Before doing so, however, I want to make a comment about Amendment 9 tabled in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Touhig. It seeks to protect the full-time …..."
Baroness Burt of Solihull - View Speech

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Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 11 Jul 2017
Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill [HL]

"My Lords, there is little not to like about this Bill. It extends to regular armed service men and women some of the rights which others in the services and in other walks of life currently enjoy.

It is not detailed and it is not prescriptive. It enables the Armed …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 24 Nov 2011
BAE Systems

"I shall make a brief contribution on behalf of my Liberal Democrat Back-Bench colleagues. This has been an excellent debate. It is a bit disappointing that the Opposition Front Bencher soured it by making political comments, but there we are.

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 08 Nov 2010
Oral Answers to Questions

"9. If he will bring forward proposals for a national defence medal to recognise non-operational military service...."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 08 Nov 2010
Oral Answers to Questions

"I very much welcome the review. We are just a few days away from Remembrance day, and since 1919 we have been remembering the sacrifice of our armed services. Today, however, we have much improved media and greater transparency, and we understand more the mental, emotional and physical sacrifice that …..."
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