The Ministry of Defence publishes an annual Official Statistics report covering the employment outcomes of Service leavers who utilised the support of the Career Transition Partnership. The latest figures cover Financial Year 2022-23 and were published on 15 February 2024 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/career-transition-partnership-ex-service-personnel-employment-outcomes-statistics-index

Armed Forces apprenticeships are delivered across most military locations, units and training establishments. Delivery is directly linked to where Armed Forces training takes place, with on-job and consolidation training being conducted across most units, and additional training locations predicated by Service needs. Apprentices are tracked and managed, with monthly data collated centrally for oversight of the entire Armed Forces programme.

Defence records where Civil Service apprentices are based, not the locations at which their apprenticeships are delivered. Civil Service apprenticeships are delivered by different contract-winning providers, through a blend of face-to-face and remote learning methods.

Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and to the House.

I thank the Minister for his response. Many of my constituents work in the defence sector, whether at RNAS Yeovilton, Leonardo in Yeovil or Thales in my constituency. I commend initiatives such as Leonardo’s AeroWomen programme, which aims to increase gender parity in the sector, but I am concerned by the barriers

that women still face. The women in defence charter aims to have women make up 30% of the UK armed forces by 2030, yet the current number is a meagre 12%. Has the Minister made an assessment in the last quarter of 2023 of the success of the charter since its launch?

Happy new year, Mr Speaker.

Many women undertake critical roles in our defence industry, so the policies by which we procure the equipment they build are very important for them. Ministers have been telling the Defence Committee since before Christmas that we can expect a major announcement on procurement reform in the new year. As we are now in January, can we have a commitment that we will have that announcement by the end of this month, please?

What recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of women employed in the defence sector.

A happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and to all colleagues.

As at October 2023, 55.4% of civil servants are female—a rise of 0.7 percentage points compared with 1 October 2022—and 11.7% of the UK regular armed forces and 15.9% of Future Reserves 2020 are women, up by 1.2 percentage points and 1.4 percentage points respectively in the past five years. That means that the trend is in the right direction, but we can do better, and I am confident that we will do so across the defence enterprise.

Defence has established strong partnerships with a range of universities and other educational establishments to ensure access to skilled graduates. For example, the Armed Forces have embedded training and engagement organisations within universities which support graduates in aligning their post-study employment with a career in the Armed Forces. Organisations such as the University Royal Naval Units, University Officers’ Training Corps, University Air Squadrons all provide access to highly motivated and skilled graduates.

In addition, Defence offers bursaries through the Defence Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Undergraduate Sponsorship (DSUS) Scheme and conducts a wide range of outreach activities. These seek to highlight opportunities in Defence, and how graduates can enjoy fulfilling careers as a result of their qualifications and skills. A number of educational establishments deliver qualifications aligned to employment in the Armed Forces as well as signposting Armed Forces employment through their Careers and Employability Services.

Defence also utilises its educational partnerships to upskill Armed Forces personnel with Further or Higher qualifications for the benefit of Defence outputs. These arrangements range from mandatory programmes aligned to specific Armed Forces roles through to voluntarily accessed personal development programmes. The Armed Forces Enhanced Learning Credits Scheme provides significant access support to those personnel voluntarily undertaking such further study. Graduate and masters’ level apprenticeships also develop higher-level skills for Defence in partnership with multiple Universities and other educational institutions.

The Ministry of Defence is also part of the Defence Suppliers Framework (DSF), a collaboration with UK Defence Industries to look at the skills needed for the UK Defence Industrial Base (DIB). The DSF interfaces with academia to promote the skills the UK DIB requires from future graduates.

For Defence civilians, many individual professions and functions have their own schemes, with key examples including the Future STEM scheme for Defence Science and Technology Laboratory which involves a structured sequence of placements with different partners in industry and academia; the DSUS Scheme, which is supporting students and encourage them to pursue careers in Defence, addressing recruitment for the National Cyber Force; the Defence Nuclear Enterprise Early Careers Operating Model, which will promote early career opportunities in Defence through strategic academic partnerships following planned implementation from April 2024; and participation in both the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.faststream.gov.uk/index.html) and its Summer Internship Programme: (https://www.faststream.gov.uk/summer-internship-programme/index.html).

The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

This information is not held in the specific detail requested. All roles are advertised, with exception, as full-time, part-time, job share and flexible working. It is not possible to determine whether multiple incumbents of a single position are working a job-share working pattern or not.

The below table shows the number of jobs advertised specifically as job-share only.

No assessment has been made of the impact on the Defence workforce of the proposed requirement to learn maths until 18. However, Armed Forces recruiting organisations continually monitor developments in central policy and are agile in accommodating them into recruiting policies and practices. These are further supported by Defence policies underpinning the skills and qualifications of personnel whilst in Armed Forces employment.

Functional Skills (FS) underpin the practical approach embodied in military training and complements the day-to-day work of Service personnel. Defence has adopted FS qualifications as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all Service personnel accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision. Recruits and trainees face training that places immediate demands on their FS abilities, particularly during technical Phase 2 training. It is essential, therefore, that they are capable of operating at an appropriate level upon reaching that stage of training. The single Services seek to improve the FS (English) and FS (Mathematics) abilities of all recruits by at least one national level and, ideally and if achievable within resources, to a minimum of Level 2. It should be noted that over 95% of recruits are offered an apprenticeship aligned to their trade training at a minimum of Level 2, which requires a minimum of FS Level 1 maths.

Initial Assessments are conducted by the single Services for all recruits (who do not hold Level 2 English and Maths equivalent qualifications), and a further Diagnostic Assessment is in place for all those identified as having FS needs. Diagnostic Assessment is regarded as an ongoing process that is repeated, as required, until the Service person achieves Level 2 qualification.

The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The Ministry of Defence has in-house service provision for delivery of recruitment for both delegated and Senior Civil Service (SCS) grades through Defence Business Services (DBS) and the Civilian HR SCS team who deliver the operational aspects of recruitment – from advertising roles, to managing competitions. The majority of our roles are advertised through Civil Service Jobs, and along with other Departments we contribute to the funding of this service. We also promote opportunities through LinkedIn and our wider offer through Civil Service Careers. We operate a delegated model for recruitment, enabling different parts of the business to make choices about whether they require advertising in addition to Civil Service Jobs. We therefore do not hold data centrally on recruitment costs – including advertising roles. We are considering how we can improve our data on the cost of recruitment, so that we can understand our cost per hire.

The requested information is provided in the following tables:

Percentage of Female UK Regulars and Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) personnel intake by calendar year, 2021 - 2022

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

Table Notes:

UK Regulars include Full Time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, Mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel.

Figures include trained and untrained personnel.

Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reservists and Volunteer Reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment or Full Time Reserve Service contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost-effective solution than Volunteer Reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff, Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.

Figures comprise personnel joining the Armed Forces either as new entrants or re-entrants.

The percentages given in the table refer to the proportion of female intake from the total intake.

Percentage of Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civilian female inflow by calendar year, 2021 – 2022

Source: Analysis (Civilian)

Table Notes:

MOD civilian figures include MOD Main Top Level Budgetary areas (TLB), UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO), Defence Science Technology Laboratories (DSTL), Defence Electronics Components Agency (DECA), Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA). Figures exclude Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and Locally Engaged Civilians (LEC).

Inflow may include civilian rejoiners.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the largest single deliverer of apprenticeships in the UK, with over 22,000 personnel engaged on a nationally recognised apprenticeship programme at any one time. This is widely publicised through the UCAS and Find and Apprentice websites, Apprenticeship in Action videos, Education and Skills Funding Agency webinars, television adverts, sponsoring National Apprenticeship Awards, and social media, particularly during National Apprenticeship Week.

Over 95% of our non-commissioned military recruits are offered an apprenticeship after their trade training and 3% of our civil servants are currently enrolled onto apprenticeships. These are being added to continually with new apprenticeship offers to meet emerging skills requirements, most notably in the digital, nuclear and analytics professions. Alongside the Armed Forces apprenticeship programme, the MOD has also just been awarded Platinum membership of the 5% Club.

For both the Armed Forces and MOD Civil Service, a host of other training opportunities are also available, organised or delivered by individual business units. These vary widely depending on factors such as the skill level and existing qualifications of the post holder. All personnel are actively encouraged and supported to develop their skills and further their personal development.

The Armed Forces are committed to attracting, retaining and developing the best talent from the broadest diversity of skills and background, to reflect the society we serve. Women are an integral part of our Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence is taking action to ensure the Armed Forces support women to have full and thriving military careers - including reaching the very top ranks.

A Level of Ambition of 30% inflow of women by 2030 was announced in 2021, building on the content of the previously published Defence Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2018-2030. This is both "stretching and challenging" and a clear statement that Defence wants to improve, recognises the mission critical value women bring and is creating conversations and driving improvement activities.

Defence has adopted almost all the recommendations from the Defence Committee’s 2021 report into Women in the Armed Forces, having tested them with the Service Women’s Networks – and in many cases taking them further. A further progress update will be provided to the Defence Committee on 14 November 2023. Notable recent progress includes:

• In summer and autumn 2022, new Armed Forces policies were released on sexual exploitation and abuse, a ban on relationships between instructors and trainees, a zero-tolerance approach to sexual offending, and introducing additional levers to discharge those in the Armed Forces found guilty of unacceptable sexual behaviour.
• Equipment and uniform improvements across the Services, including improved fit combat clothing and the provision of sports bras to all those who require breast support in initial training.
• A range of health information products that support Servicewomen, including menopause and breastfeeding policies, a Servicewomen’s Health Handbook and a reviewed sanitary product provision and disposal system.

In terms of the civilian workforce, a range of creative materials have been developed to advertise all the opportunities within the Defence Civil Service workforce. Products include real life experiences of our employees, , who work in roles across the Defence Estate, to showcase the diversity and inclusive nature of Defence. Recently, these products have been used to advertise National Inclusion Week specially for the Engineering Profession.

The majority of Civil Service roles are advertised offering flexible working opportunities, including job share. We operate an anonymous sift approach so that identifying characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and age are not available to be seen by the selection panel at the sift stage.

Defence accommodation maintenance contracts that work on a fix-it-when-it-breaks basis ignore preventive maintenance, create perverse incentives—the longer a repair is left, the greater the damage and the bigger the cost—and too often remove the ability of accommodation users to look after their homes. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is time we looked at those contracts again?

The UK is one of just four NATO nations to spend 2% or more of gross domestic product on defence. On current plans, defence spending will continue to meet the 2% target for the current spending review period. Decisions on public spending after 2015-16 will be made in the next spending review.

The question of defence spending by European NATO partners is regularly discussed at NATO defence ministerial meetings.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Devon (Mel Stride) and my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Steve Brine).

What assessment he has made of the effects on the defence and security of Scotland of being part of the UK.