Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military personnel have been (a) recruited and (b) resigned or retired from the armed forces in each of the last three years.

The requested information is provided below:

UK Regular Forces Recruitment, Resignations and Retirements During Calendar Years 2014-16

Notes:

1. All figures have been sourced from Tables 4 and 5d of the 1 February 2017 edition of the Monthly Service Personnel Statistics publication, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/597081/Monthly_Service_Personnel_Statistics_1February17__2_.xlsx
2. "Recruitment" is defined as the total intake of personnel to the Regular Forces.
3. "Resignations" are defined as any personnel leaving the UK Regular Forces on Voluntary Outflow. Voluntary Outflow relates to any personnel who voluntarily leave before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period.
4. "Retirements" are defined as any personnel leaving the UK Regular Forces on Time Expiry. Time Expiry relates to any personnel who reach the end of their engagement or commission period and then leave.
5. UK Regular Forces comprises Full-time personnel but does not include Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service personnel and Reservists.