Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse is of mobilising reservists under Operation Rescript.

The Ministry of Defence has mobilised 1,800 reservists in support of Operation RESCRIPT. The cost of their mobilisation will depend on the individual circumstances of each reservist and the duration of their mobilisation. The Department does not, therefore, yet have a full understanding of the cost to the public purse and wouldn’t expect to have one until all reservists working on RESCRIPT have finally been de-mobilised.

Our reservists play a vital part in our response to the pandemic and will be critical in providing further resilience this winter. We will continue to mobilise reservists as required and recognise how essential their skills and experience have been in allowing Defence to provide such outstanding support to other Government departments over the last six months.