Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many unfilled posts there are in (1) the Army Reserve, (2) the Naval Reserve, and (3) the RAF reserve; and what percentage of understaffing these unfilled posts represent.

The Integrated Review and Spending Review (IR/SR) introduced greater flexibility in how Defence could employ its workforce types (Armed Forces Regular, Reserve, Defence Civilian and Contractors) which has made the continued use of a fixed workforce requirement for individual components of the Whole Force less appropriate. We are in the process of agreeing a new Indicative Planned Strength which will provide a clearer indication of the Armed Forces planned strength going forward. It will reflect the Whole Force Strategic Workforce plans that are currently being finalised and reflect the changes in organisational structure introduced following the IR/SR.