Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the intake needed to maintain the British Army at its required fighting strength has been recruited in each of the last six years for which figures are available.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Defence Statistics publish information on a regular basis showing intake figures for the Armed Forces, including the Army. The most recent information is contained in "UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics November 2016" and associated tables which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-index
Official statistics for Regular recruitment targets which may be meaningfully compared to the official intake statistics are not produced.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many lieutenants and second lieutenants there are currently in the British Army; and how many there were in each of the last five years.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The numbers of lieutenants and second lieutenants in the British Army is shown below. The figures are taken from the Joint Personnel Administration system and show the numbers of Service personnel paid at each rank.
|
| Paid Rank | Paid Rank |
|
| Lieutenant | 2nd Lieutenant |
April 2011 |
| 1,440 | 830 |
April 2012 |
| 1,520 | 730 |
April 2013 |
| 1,560 | 650 |
April 2014 |
| 1,530 | 600 |
April 2015 |
| 1,700 | 500 |
April 2016 |
| 1,560 | 550 |
December 2016 |
| 1,070 | 510 |
|
|
|
|
Source: Defence Statistics (Army) |
Notes/Caveats:
The figures are for Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service and Mobilised Reserves.
Figures have been rounded to 10. Figures ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the (1) BAME, and (2) female, recruiting targets for the British Army for each of the last six years for which figures are available; and what sanctions apply to regiments which do not meet those targets.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and female recruiting targets for the Department were set in 2015. The targets are an inflow of 10 per cent BAME and 15 per cent female by 2020 and apply to all three Services. The targets apply to the Service as a whole and not to individual Regiments.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 1 June (HL345), whether they can veto any proposed EU army, or whether this could go ahead under "enhanced co-operation" between other EU member states.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Prime Minister has been clear that the United Kingdom's Armed Forces will never be part of a European army. In the Treaty on the European Union there is special provision for any decision within the EU that has military or defence implications. Such decisions must be made unanimously, meaning that the UK has a veto. This also applies to enhanced co-operation, which requires agreement by all member states before it can be undertaken.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent the UK is committed to joining an EU army if one is formed and we are invited to do so.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Prime Minister has been clear that the UK will never be part of a European Army. We have consistently said that we will oppose any measures which would undermine member states' competence for their own military forces, or lead to competition and duplication with NATO, which is the cornerstone of our defence.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government in the last four years, how many British Muslims have joined the armed forces, and how many they estimate have gone independently to fight in Syria and North Africa.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
All candidates joining the Armed Forces are subject to exactly the same vetting procedures applicable to their chosen branch or trade, irrespective of religion or ethnicity.
There is no requirement for personnel to declare their religion. However, the numbers of British personnel who joined the UK Regular Armed Forces and self-declared their religion as Muslim in the last four financial years is set out below. The Ministry of Defence is not aware of any British Muslim members of the UK Regular Armed Forces going Absent Without Official Leave to fight in Syria or North Africa in the last four years.
Intake to the UK Regular Forces of personnel with a British Nationality declaring a Muslim religion, by Financial Year
2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
10 | 20 | 30 | 20 |
Note: figures show intake to UK Regular Forces, both trained and untrained, which comprises new entrants, re-entrants, direct trained entrants (including professionally qualified Officers), intake to the Army from the Gurkhas and intake from the reserves. They exclude all movements within the Regular Forces; including flows from untrained to trained strength, transfers between Services and flows from Ranks to Officer due to promotion. All numbers are rounded.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether arrangements are in place to vet Muslim recruits to the armed forces; if so, what are those arrangements, and if not, whether they will set them up.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
All candidates joining the Armed Forces are subject to exactly the same vetting procedures applicable to their chosen branch or trade, irrespective of religion or ethnicity.
There is no requirement for personnel to declare their religion. However, the numbers of British personnel who joined the UK Regular Armed Forces and self-declared their religion as Muslim in the last four financial years is set out below. The Ministry of Defence is not aware of any British Muslim members of the UK Regular Armed Forces going Absent Without Official Leave to fight in Syria or North Africa in the last four years.
Intake to the UK Regular Forces of personnel with a British Nationality declaring a Muslim religion, by Financial Year
2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
10 | 20 | 30 | 20 |
Note: figures show intake to UK Regular Forces, both trained and untrained, which comprises new entrants, re-entrants, direct trained entrants (including professionally qualified Officers), intake to the Army from the Gurkhas and intake from the reserves. They exclude all movements within the Regular Forces; including flows from untrained to trained strength, transfers between Services and flows from Ranks to Officer due to promotion. All numbers are rounded.