Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether applicants from outside the UK who hold Commonwealth citizenship and are under the age of 18 at the time of joining are eligible to join the Army.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Commonwealth citizens, residing outside the UK, must be at least 18 years of age before being eligible to apply to join the Army.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to launch its consultation on settlement policy.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will be consulting on the new settlement rules later this year. Following that, we will provide details of how this initiative will work.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to standardise the criteria for reservist call-out liability across the Armed Forces services.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Under the forthcoming Armed Forces Bill, we will standardise some of the criteria governing this liability, for those personnel who will form the Strategic Reserve (personnel who leave Service and retain a liability to be called back into permanent Service). Call-out liability for personnel on leaving Regular Service is determined by individual circumstances. These include the Service they were part of, the individual commitment or contract that governed their Service, their age, and other specific terms of their discharge such as if for medical or disciplinary reasons.

The policies and processes that underpin call-out liability are under constant review, to ensure that they remain fit for purpose in the current geopolitical environment and beyond.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has conducted a recent audit of the skills and health readiness of ex-Regular personnel who may be called upon during national emergencies.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

In support of the Strategic Defence Review recommendation to step-up engagement with the Strategic Reserve, the Military Strategic Headquarters, in partnership with the Military Commands, is leading work to gather and assure the relevant information to ex Regular Service personnel who still hold a Strategic Reserve liability. This includes gathering updated contact details and employer information. We are improving our assurance of this information, such as through the UK exercise programme in coming years.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the accuracy of data on the (a) location, (b) contact details, (c) health and (d) readiness of ex-Regulars held within the strategic reserve.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

In support of the Strategic Defence Review recommendation to step-up engagement with the Strategic Reserve, the Military Strategic Headquarters, in partnership with the Military Commands, is leading work to gather and assure the relevant information to ex Regular Service personnel who still hold a Strategic Reserve liability. This includes gathering updated contact details and employer information. We are improving our assurance of this information, such as through the UK exercise programme in coming years.

Found: 2024−25 Tuesday 29 October 2024 Members present Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, in the Chair1 Calvin Bailey

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Chair); Mr Calvin Bailey; Jesse Norman

Found: Defence Committee members present: Mr Calvin Bailey; Lincoln Jopp.