02 Feb 24. Call for focus on High-Intensity Warfighting to Increase Deterrence. A report, published today (Sunday 4 February) by the Defence Committee, concludes that the UK Armed Forces have key capability and stockpile shortages and are losing personnel faster than they can recruit.
The report finds that Government will fail to achieve the desired level of high-intensity warfighting readiness without rapidly accelerating reforms to increase and sustain a thriving industrial base and to improve its “offer” to Service personnel.
“Ready for war?” finds that, while it is correctly a matter of national pride that whenever the Armed Forces are asked to carry out a task, they find a way, overstretch has negatively impacted high intensity warfighting readiness due to the sheer pace of operations and other commitments. It has also had a personal cost for Service personnel, impacting retention.
This has created a vicious cycle. The Committee urges the Government to act to break this cycle, and do so swiftly, to ensure that the UK is ready to face the increasingly challenging threat environment.
Recruitment and retention
The Committee is increasingly concerned about the crisis in the recruitment and retention of both Regulars and Reservists in the Armed Forces.
The report concludes that the demands of operations make recovery and training harder to achieve. As a result, the Committee says it is unsurprising that more people are leaving the Forces than joining them.
The report finds that the Government (while acknowledging the issue and laying the foundations for improvement) has not yet moved at the required pace to address issues around recruitment and retention.
It calls on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to produce an implementation timetable with measurable deliverables based on the recommendations within the Reserve Forces 2030 Review and the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation.
Stockpiles and retaining capabilities
The Committee is concerned to hear that the £1.95bn awarded as part of the Spring 2023 Budget may instead be used to meet budget shortfalls, instead of being used to replenish and increase stockpiles.
The Committee calls on the MOD to reconsider and produce a breakdown of the allocation of the awards from the Autumn 2022 and Spring 2023 Budgets.
The Committee also welcomes the likely announcement before Easter of policy changes intended to improve procurement processes, so as to sustain and increase the UK’s industrial capacity. The Committee underlines the importance of production of munitions, both in the context of Ukraine and any future war.
The Committee finds that, in the event of a prolonged high-intensity war, equipment which is even halfway viable for regeneration is better than none. The report calls for capabilities to be retained even after retirement, including exploring the use of alternative storage solutions which may be more effective at lower cost such as access to US reserve storage facilities.
Chair of the Defence Committee, Sir Jeremy Quin MP, said: “Our Armed Services are a world-class fighting force. We are fortunate that they contain highly trained, skilled and experienced Service personnel. When undertaking their duties, they demonstrate immense bravery and flexibility, responding to a range of crises and threats worldwide without hesitation, never wavering in their commitment to protecting our nation. However, a steady, continuous drip of operations and ongoing commitments has meant the military is unable to devote sufficient training and resources to high-intensity warfighting. While able to deploy at short notice and to fulfil commitments, our inquiry found that readiness for all-out, prolonged war has received insufficient attention and needs intense ongoing focus. On top of this, the high tempo of operations and unrelenting pressure on our Services has led to a drop in retention, compounded by a period of low recruitment and difficulties introducing and maintaining capabilities, thereby creating a vicious cycle. It is welcome that 20,000 UK Forces will be deployed as part of the NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024. It is through exercises such as these that we can better understand our readiness and train for effective working alongside our NATO Allies. This is the largest such exercise since the end of the Cold War: regular exercises of this nature will be invaluable and will need to be accommodated on an ongoing basis. Today’s report calls on Government to start making difficult choices: either invest fully in our military or recognise that proper prioritisation of warfighting will mean less availability for other tasks. We need to be strategic about the resources we have, including how to maintain and replenish stockpiles, and consider how to ensure that equipment – even after retirement – does not go to waste.
“Importantly, the MOD must address its problems with recruitment and retention head on. We are calling on the MOD to publish the recommendations it plans on taking forward from recent reviews, including the Haythornthwaite Review, and provide Parliament with a detailed implementation plan. We are used to the Armed Forces consistently delivering whatever is asked of them, we need to ensure that in doing so we are not depriving them of the time, resources and training they need to fight and win a high-intensity prolonged war alongside our allies. Readiness is essential to provide the confidence we need and effective deterrence to our adversaries.”
01 Feb 24. Welsh Affairs Committee to hear from young people in defence inquiry.
Evidence Session
Defence industry in Wales
Wednesday 7 February at 10.00, Committee Room 16
Watch live on parliamentlive.tv
Two young people – one studying cyber security, and one a former apprentice engineer – will be appearing before the Welsh Affairs Committee to share their experiences as MPs consider the skills pipeline for the defence sector in Wales. Giving evidence to the Committee, they will discuss their own experiences of studying and working in fields supporting the defence sector in Wales. They will also share their views on the opportunities to progress their careers in their chosen fields, and how to improve uptake of STEM subjects among skilled young people. The second panel, featuring the Director of the OpTIC Technology Centre and the Head of Research at AMRC Cymru, will then discuss the landscape for defence-related innovation in Wales, in particular bridging the gap between industry and universities, and the importance of wider manufacturing capabilities in Wales.
Witnesses
From 10.00:
- Emma Morgan, Student, Cardiff and Vale College
- Victoria Searle, Industrial Engineer, Airbus
From 10.40:
- Professor Caroline Gray OBE, Director, OpTIC Technology Centre
- Bobby Manesh, Head of Research, AMRC Cymru
30 Jan 24. Defence Committee to publish report on Armed Forces readiness. The Defence Committee published its report on Armed Forces readiness (‘Ready for war?’) at 00.01 on Sunday 4 February 2024. Embargoed copies will be available the morning of Friday 2 February. If you are in receipt of this email, you will automatically receive a copy.
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Ministry of Defence: Recruitment
Question for Ministry of Defence
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with which three external recruitment agencies his Department spent the highest amount in the last 12 months.
Answer
Dr Andrew Murrison
Conservative
South West Wiltshire
Commons
Answered on 1 February 2024
The Department’s Annual Reports and Accounts gives overall spend on consultancy as £149.105 million for 2022-23. There is no further breakdown to show spend on external recruitment consultancy and none could be obtained without entailing excess cost although, in general, Defence does not make use of external recruitment agencies to fill full time roles. However, the Army has a contract with Capita to deliver recruitment.
Veterans: Homelessness
Question for Ministry of Defence
Jim Shannon
Democratic Unionist Party
Strangford
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with Veterans UK on veteran homelessness.
Answer
Dr Andrew Murrison
Conservative
South West Wiltshire
Commons
Answered on 1 February 2024
Veterans UK is the public facing name given to the administration and payment by the Ministry of Defence of Armed Forces Pensions and the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Schemes, and Veterans Welfare Service. The brand is being retired because it does not exist as an executive agency or standalone entity, and the continued use of the brand causes confusion as to the role of the Department.
As I said in the House on 8 January 2024 (volume 743, column 11), homelessness is not principally a function of the Ministry of Defence. However, the Veterans Welfare Service, Defence Transition Service and Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans provide holistic transition and welfare information, guidance and support to the Armed Forces Community, which includes that in relation to homelessness where the need is specifically linked to Service. This includes responding to housing enquiries from Service leavers and their families with a housing need, including those at risk of homelessness and who require further, additional transitional support.
The lead for cross Departmental issues effecting Veterans such as homelessness is the Office for Veterans Affairs.
Ukraine: Defence Equipment
Question for Ministry of Defence
John McDonnell
Labour
Hayes and Harlington
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Python Minefield Breaching Systems (a) are in storage, (b) are in use and (c) were donated to Ukraine between February 2022 and June 2023.
Answer
James Heappey
Conservative
Wells
Commons
Answered on 1 February 2024
I am withholding the number of in-service Python as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the British Armed Forces.
I can confirm however that no Python Minefield Breaching Systems have been Granted in Kind to Ukraine by the UK.
Challenger Tanks
Question for Ministry of Defence
John McDonnell
Labour
Hayes and Harlington
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason his Department donated 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine; and for what reason his Department did not donate all Challenger 2 tanks not due to be upgraded to Challenger 3.
Answer
James Heappey
Conservative
Wells
Commons
Answered on 1 February 2024
The UK’s decision to send a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks to Ukraine delivered a coherent and combat effective capability and, in doing so, unlocked dozens of additional Main Battle Tanks from international partners. A decision on what will happen to the Challenger 2 platforms not being used as part of the Challenger 3 programme has not yet been taken.
Ukraine: Defence Equipment
Question for Ministry of Defence
John McDonnell
Labour
Hayes and Harlington
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to donate more Minefield Breaching Systems to Ukraine.
Answer
James Heappey
Conservative
Wells
Commons
Answered on 1 February 2024
The UK does plan to donate additional Minefield Breaching Systems to Ukraine. However, due to operational security I will not provide a specific breakdown.
Ukraine: Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Question for Ministry of Defence
John McDonnell
Labour
Hayes and Harlington
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Trojan platforms were donated to Ukraine between February 2022 and June 2023.
Answer
James Heappey
Conservative
Wells
Commons
Answered on 1 February 2024
We have not donated any Trojan platforms to Ukraine during that time period.