Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former members of the regular Army have regular reserve recall liability in the event of a national emergency as of 1 April 2024.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

As at 1 January 2024 there were 22,676 Army Regular Reservists with recall liability under Section 22 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 96.

In addition, there are approximately 55,000 ex-Regular personnel as of March 2024 subject to recall under Section 68 of the RFA 96.

Notes/caveats:

1. The number of Army Regular Reservists with a recall liability can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.
2. The Army Regular Reserve comprises ex-Regular Army personnel who retain a workforce obligation to be called up for service in times of need.
3. This figure includes the serving component which comprises ex-Regular personnel who have applied to return to Army service on a fixed term Reserve commitment.
4. The second figure comprises of personnel who have completed their military service and retain a liability to be recalled for service in the event of national danger, great emergency or an actual or suspected attack on the UK.
5. This figure is a single Service estimate based on management information which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. The data as of March 2024 is the latest available.
6. The c55,000 includes ex-Regular Officers who retain a recall liability in perpetuity.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former members of the regular Army have regular reserve call out liability as of 1 April 2024.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

As at 1 January 2024 there were 22,676 Army Regular Reservists with recall liability under Section 22 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 96.

In addition, there are approximately 55,000 ex-Regular personnel as of March 2024 subject to recall under Section 68 of the RFA 96.

Notes/caveats:

1. The number of Army Regular Reservists with a recall liability can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.
2. The Army Regular Reserve comprises ex-Regular Army personnel who retain a workforce obligation to be called up for service in times of need.
3. This figure includes the serving component which comprises ex-Regular personnel who have applied to return to Army service on a fixed term Reserve commitment.
4. The second figure comprises of personnel who have completed their military service and retain a liability to be recalled for service in the event of national danger, great emergency or an actual or suspected attack on the UK.
5. This figure is a single Service estimate based on management information which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. The data as of March 2024 is the latest available.
6. The c55,000 includes ex-Regular Officers who retain a recall liability in perpetuity.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by how much (a) Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits and (b) Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits will be reduced following the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 in each affected Department; and if he will publish in which Departments these savings will be made.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The government has committed to re-invest every penny that is saved from the cancelled phases of HS2 into alternative transport projects through Network North.

This means that every penny of the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 will be reinvested in the North; every penny of the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands leg will be reinvested in the Midlands; and the full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston will be spread across every other region in the country.

Departmental Expenditure Limits in 2024-25 are published at the relevant Estimates in the usual way. Departmental budgets beyond 2024-25 will be set as part of the next Spending Review.