Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reduce holdover wait times for trainees.

Holdover wait times for trainees vary across the single Services and it is not a universal picture; however multiple steps are being taken to reduce wait times across all three Services. Force growth and training have been prioritised, with training pipelines experiencing increased productivity with additional military, civil service and contractor workforce provisioned to deliver optimal sequencing.

The efficiency of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) continues to improve, with a consistently reducing number of trainees in holdovers, and the duration of holdovers also reducing significantly.

Holdovers in UKMFTS Aircrew training pipelines are monitored through established tri-Service governance structures, particularly the Aircrew Pipeline Management Group (APMG) and Aircrew Pipeline Steering Group (APSG), both chaired by RAF 22 Group. These forums enable early visibility of emerging constraints and have directly contributed to reductions in both the number and duration of holdovers across UKMFTS.