Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the shortfall was for the recruitment of reserve and regular marines and officers in the Royal Marines in the last 12 months.

The information is not held in the format requested as targets and statistics are measured and reported by Financial Year (FY), not calendar year.

In respect of the Royal Marine Reserve (RMR), there was no shortfall in FY 2016-17 up to 1 December 2016 for recruitment to RMR Officer or Other Ranks.

For recruitment to the Regular Royal Marines, in FY 2016-17 up to 1 December 2016 there is no shortfall for Officers. For Other Ranks so far, 506 personnel have been recruited.