Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Royal Navy (a) staffing target and (b) actual number of staff was as of 30 January 2024.

I can confirm that it is the Government’s intention to announce an indicative planned strength for Regular Armed Forces personnel shortly which will provide further detail on planned future Armed Force strengths. However, currently, I can confirm that as of 1 October 2023, the total strength of the Naval Service was 37,960 (comprising of UK Regular Forces, Volunteer Reserve and other personnel), of which 32,130 were Regular serving Royal Navy personnel, including Royal Marines.

These figures are published on a quarterly basis for all His Majesty’s Armed Forces and can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2023.