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Recruiting and retaining the right number of well-trained personnel is vital for the continuing success of the United Kingdom's Armed Forces. Yet recruitment and retention targets are not being met. The number of trained military personnel joining the trained strength is falling. The number of personnel leaving the Armed Forces before the end of their agreed term is also creeping upwards. We are particularly concerned about shortages in 'pinchpoint' trades which seriously threaten operational capability.
This is not a new phenomenon. The difference is that now our Armed Forces are operating at a higher tempo than ever before and their commitments outstrip the levels for which they are resourced. This has put Service personnel under extreme pressure and is contributing to increasing levels of voluntary outflow.
Failure to meet Harmony Guidelines, the impact of operational tempo and stretch have serious consequences for Armed Forces personnel and their families and can be a major factor in decisions to leave the Services early. Armed Forces personnel need greater stability and certainty about their work/life balance.
Ministers, officials and senior officers acknowledge these pressures and have introduced a number of measures both to attract more people to the Armed Forces and to ease the pressure on existing personnel. We welcome these initiatives, but note that the manning situation is not improving. We are concerned that the MoD has become used to declining numbers of Armed Forces personnel, and is not doing enough to redress manning shortfalls.
Our web forum has provided first-hand comments from Service personnel about the problems they face. We believe the MoD should develop better mechanisms for identifying and addressing these sorts of issues; an independent Armed Forces Federation might assist in this. We recommend that the MoD consider an independent Armed Forces Federation more constructively.
We conclude that there is no rapid solution to the problems of recruitment and retention. Many of the underlying causes of these difficulties result from limited resources. Service accommodation has been under-funded for an extended period of time. Better resourced outreach programmes would create bridges between military and civilian society. Like many parts of the Armed Forces, recruiting teams, welfare officers and training teams are under strength. Recruitment and retention in the Armed Forces will not be improved without a significant commitment of resources.
We have concerns that in its efforts to recruit more ethnic minorities to the Armed Forces, and in recruitment activities targeting pinchpoint trades, the MoD is acting without the information necessary to develop evidence-based policies. We recognise that the MoD faces real difficulties recruiting from certain ethnic minority communities, which can only be addressed within those communities, should they choose to do so.
Our Armed Forces are among the best in the world and their pay should reflect this. We note that the overall basic pay package does not appear to be a major cause of Armed Forces personnel leaving the Services.
We conclude that the MoD is not responding with sufficient flexibility and imagination to some of the problems it encounters. Educational incentives could be used much more effectively as a recruiting incentive, and the MoD could aid retention by reviewing the inequalities of its retirement policies. The Armed Forces should encourage transfers between and within the Services, and smooth the inconsistencies in pay and conditions between the Services.
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