MoD blasted as watchdog reveals biggest soldier shortfall in ten years
3 min read
The shortfall in military personnel is the largest it has been in a decade and ministers must take swift action to close the gap, the official Government watchdog has said.
The National Audit Office said the Ministry of Defence was some 8,200 full-time regulars below its existing requirement, with “much larger” gaps in more than 100 critical skills.
It urged ministers to “fundamentally change” their approach to training and recruiting personnel, to ensure the military can keep up with “modern world threats”.
The verdict is a humiliation for ministers, who for months resisted calls to boost troop numbers only to eventually concede to a review.
The NAO said the number of regulars was 5.7% below the existing requirement, with a number of specific services unable to carry out operational tasks without cancelling leave or training.
It said the challenge was “likely to grow” as the MoD will require specialist digital skills to ensure it can continue to respond as warfare moves increasingly into the technological age.
And it said the Government was unlikely to close the gap in the next five years.
Shortfalls are borne primarily from recruitment and retention problems, with sign-ups of regulars in 2016/17 down 24% on targets, while the number leaving has increased from 3.8% a year in 2010 to 5.6% last year.
Meanwhile, official surveys show satisfaction with pay, accommodation and service life had by last year dropped to record lows among personnel.
NAO boss Amyas Morse said: “Ensuring the armed forces have the right number of skilled personnel in place is not a new challenge, but given the complexity and development of new, modern-world threats, it is a challenge that will only continue to grow.
“The department needs to fundamentally change its approach to develop skilled personnel and address the long-established shortfalls that persist.”
Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier blasted the findings and urged the Government to act.
“The NAO report shows that the armed forces are woefully below compliment, especially in crucial areas like intelligence and engineering,” she said.
“The Ministry of Defence needs to take a long hard look at its current approach. Without more innovative methods to attract and retain staff, the UK risks continuing with big gaps in capability and overstretching already hard working and crucial service personnel.”
FORCES 'BADLY LET DOWN'
Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith fumed: “This report exposes the crisis in recruitment and retention that has developed on this Government’s watch.
“Our servicemen and women are vital to our national security but they are being badly let down by the Government’s complete failure to invest in personnel to staff defence equipment, leading to a knock-on impact on morale.
"Armed Forces personnel have now faced seven years of real terms pay cuts, and satisfaction with pay and service life is in complete free fall. It is high time for the Government to take concrete action to address this crisis, and agree to lift the public sector pay cap to give our personnel the pay rise that they deserve.”
'ENOUGH PERSONNEL'
An MoD spokesperson said: “Recruiting and retaining talent is one of our top priorities and we have a range of schemes, including retention pay for and direct entry into specialist trades and flexible working to make sure we attract and keep the skilled personnel we need.
“The military has enough personnel to meet all its operational requirements, including being active on 25 operations in 30 countries throughout the world. In the past year we have recruited over 13,000 people into the Armed Forces.”
In January the Government announced a major defence review would be postponed so troop numbers could be reassessed after heavy lobbying from new Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson.
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