Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Capita in managing the recruitment process for army reservists.

Applications to join the Army Reserve have reached their highest level in five years, with more than 5,000 active candidates currently in the pipeline.

However, further work is required to strengthen the progression of applicants into trained Reservists. Improving this progression rate is a priority and continues to be the subject of detailed engagement between the Army Reserve and Capita.

Regular engagement is undertaken between the Department and Capita and all parties remain committed to identifying, agreeing, and implementing measures that will deliver sustained and measurable improvements across the Reserve recruiting pipeline. Additional enhancements are anticipated during Recruiting Year 2026-27, ahead of the establishment of the Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS) in 2027-28.