Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to recruit and retain more soldiers.

The Army continues to offer exciting opportunities and the Armed Forces is the biggest provider of apprenticeships in the UK. Over 8,000 people have been recruited into the Regular Army over the past 12 months and Army Reserve numbers reached over 30,000 as of 1 May 2017, an increase of over 5% from the following year. The Army is currently running the nationwide 'Belonging' recruitment campaign.

We also continue to take steps to ensure that the Armed Forces are a modern employer, including through introduction of flexible working arrangements. This is complemented by the Chief of General Staff's 'maximising talent' agenda which aims to modernise Army career structures, training and education to ensure that it attracts, develops and retains talented people from across society.