Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to streamline the recruitment process for the armed forces.

The Government is focused upon improving Armed Forces recruitment, modernising and refining our policies and processes to attract the best possible talent.

We have delivered this through policies which have included a 35% pay increase for new recruits; one of the largest pay increases in the last 20 years for existing personnel; scrapping over 100 outdated medical policies; the creation of novel entry pathways such as the military Direct-Entry Cyber and ZigZag Careers pathways as well as the recently announced Armed Forces Foundation Scheme (‘Gap Year’); and delivering the ambition to make a conditional offer of employment to candidates within 10 days, and a provisional training start date within 30 days.

These activities and their impacts will inform the development of the Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS) which is being implemented to further improve the speed with which highly motivated and capable people can join our Armed Forces.

The AFRS contract with Serco commenced on 1 April 2025 and will fully unify recruitment by October 2027, replacing the separate schemes that are currently run by the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Airforce.

AFRS will create a streamlined, single-entry point to attract diverse talent and modernise recruitment - making it faster, simpler, and more accessible. It will deliver a single digital system to support candidates and recruiters. It will utilise military personnel and civilian staff to support candidates through the recruitment process. This contract is vital for building a capable, motivated future force ready to meet evolving global challenges.