Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the target size of the Royal Marines; how many Commandos currently serve in the Royal Marines; and what steps they are taking (1) to improve the recruitment of, and (2) to combat the shortfall in the number of serving, Commandos.

I can confirm that it is the Government’s intention to announce an indicative projected strength for Regular Armed Forces personnel shortly which will provide further detail on planned future Armed Force strengths. However, I can confirm that as of 1 October 2023, there are currently 6,040 Royal Marines (RM) Commandos. This figure excludes the RM Band Service.

These figures are published on a quarterly basis for all His Majesty’s Armed Forces and can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2023.

RM recruitment is benefiting from Defence delivered improvements to the offer including pay and pension reviews, accommodation and recruitment drives and the recruitment bounty scheme. Additionally, specific recruitment activity undertaken directly by the RM include continuing RM outreach and advertising (across traditional and social media), streamlining the recruitment process, increased mentoring at the Commando Training Centre and ensuring development opportunities for Commando instructors.