Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Defence Command Paper published on 22 March 2022, what discussions he has held with the Prime Minister since February 2022 on that paper's objective of reducing the number of British Army personnel by 9500.

The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Defence hold discussions on force structure and Defence's capabilities on an ongoing basis. The 2021 Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper made clear that we must focus on capabilities rather than troop numbers. Through Future Soldier, the Army will have a whole force of over 100,000 comprising of 73,000 Regular Service Personnel and 30,100 Army Reserve.

The Army is re-organising and re-equipping to face future threats, however, as the Secretary of State has stated, including to the Prime Minister, as the threat changes, we need to change with it. In line with the agile planning and delivery mechanisms developed following the Integrated Review, Defence will continue to review our capabilities and readiness levels accordingly.