Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution, column 665, 18 December 2018 in response to the hon. Member for Colchester, Official Report, how many (a) regular and (b) reserve personnel will comprise the 3,500 service personnel that will be available to Departments in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) routinely conducts contingency planning with other Government Departments for a range of eventualities. The MOD is presently working with Departments across Government to clarify the precise requirement for military support. Until that work is completed it is not possible to provide a breakdown of what percentage will comprise Regular and Reserve forces. In line with MOD's Whole Force concept, whenever a force is generated, consideration is given to the utilisation of Reserves, particularly in specialist roles, and the augmentation of existing command structures.