1 Introduction
Background
1. The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review
(SDSR) set out the Government's initial plans for the Army element
of Future Force 2020—the planned size, shape and structure
of UK Armed Forces by 2020—including a proposed force structure,
a reduction in Regular personnel and changes to the Army's equipment.[1]
However, the SDSR was just the start of the development of the
Government's future plans and vision for the Army.[2]
The MoD undertook further work on the structure of the Army, including
the future role and use of Reservists, a redundancy programme
for Regular Army personnel and a Regular and Reserves basing review.
The main Army 2020 decisions were announced in July 2012 and were
immediately controversial.[3]
Further announcements, including those on the role and greater
use of Reserve Forces and Regular and Reserve basing decisions
were made in 2013.[4]
Timeline
2. A timeline of the announcements on, and development
of, Army 2020 is set out below:
| Date | Announcements
|
| 19 October 2010 | Strategic Defence and Security Review published
|
| 18 July 2011 | Report of the Independent Commission to Review the Future of the United Kingdom's Reserve Forces, Future Reserves 2020, published.
Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, then Secretary of State for Defence, announced the outcome of the MoD internal three-month exercise which included a further reduction in the size of the regular Army and some initial basing decisions.
|
| 1 September 2011 | 920 personnel notified of their selection for redundancy in tranche 1
|
| February 2012 | Latest date for applicants in redundancy tranche 1 to leave[5]
|
| 12 June 2012 | 2,880 personnel notified of their selection for redundancy in tranche 2
|
| 5 July 2012 | Army 2020 announcement
|
| September 2012 | Those selected for compulsory redundancy in tranche 1 to leave[6]
|
| November 2012 | Future Reserves 2020 consultation published
|
| 11 December 2012 | Latest date for applicants in tranche 2 to leave
|
| 22 January 2013 | Redundancy tranche 3 announced
|
| 5 March 2013 | Outcome of Regular Army basing review announced (including decisions on the locations of forces withdrawing from Germany)
|
| June 2013 | Latest date for those selected for compulsory redundancy in tranche 2 to leave
|
| 18 June 2013 | 4,550 individuals notified of their selection for redundancy in tranche 3
|
| July 2013 | Reserves in the Future Force 2020 White Paper and Reserves basing plan published
Defence Reform Bill introduced in House of Commons
Transforming the British Army: an update published which incorporated the Reserves announcements which had not been included in the original publication in July 2012
|
| 17 December 2013 | Latest date for applicants in redundancy tranche 3 to leave
|
| 23 January 2014 | Redundancy tranche 4 announced with up to 1,422 Army personnel expected to be affected
|
| 12 June 2014 | Army personnel to be notified of their selection for redundancy in tranche 4
|
| June 2014 | Latest date for those selected for compulsory redundancy in tranche 3 to leave
|
| December 2014 | Latest date for applicants in redundancy tranche 4 to leave
|
| June 2015 | Latest date for those selected for compulsory redundancy in tranche 4 to leave
|
Our inquiry
3. In December 2012, we held a preliminary evidence
session with General Sir Peter Wall, Chief of the General Staff,
about the Army 2020 plan. In March 2013, the Government announced
the outcome of its Regular Army basing review. On 25 April 2013,
we announced an inquiry into the rationale behind the plans, the
resources required and the achievability of Army 2020. We were
particularly interested in:
· The strategic rationale for Army 2020,
the Army's future role and how these had been translated into
the proposed structures;
· How Army 2020 would be implemented, including
how the process would be managed and how progress would be measured
and costs calculated;
· The possible impact of future National
Security Strategies, Strategic Defence and Security Reviews and
Comprehensive Spending Reviews;
· The key challenges in achieving Army 2020,
including the outcomes of the Regular Army basing review, the
withdrawal of UK Armed Forces from Germany and the role of Reserves;
· Command arrangements for Army 2020; and
· Personnel challenges, including recruitment,
retention, and training (including combined training for Regular
and Reserve Forces).
4. At the beginning of our inquiry we decided not
to examine decisions on individual regiments and units or specific
basing decisions. We had already questioned the Secretary of State
for Defence and the then Chief of the Defence Staff on the criteria,
and figures, used for the Regular Army decisions in Army 2020
when we took evidence from them in July 2012 and we have published
this evidence.[7] Although
these are matters which provoke strong feelings, we wanted our
inquiry to focus more strategically on the Government's plans
for the future of the Army and their implementation.
5. We held four evidence sessions in which we took
evidence from the Secretary of State for Defence, the Chief of
the General Staff, senior Army officers responsible for implementing
Army 2020 and independent external commentators. We received 13
pieces of written evidence. We are grateful to all our witnesses
for the evidence they have provided and to those who submitted
written evidence. As part of our inquiry, we also visited the
Army Recruiting and Training Division at Upavon in Wiltshire where
we met the Army Recruiting Group and representatives of Capita,
the private contractor managing the Army's recruitment process.
We wish to thank all those who facilitated this useful visit.
During the course of our inquiry, the Army Rumour Service hosted
a web forum to enable us to hear the views of interested parties
on the Army 2020 plan which we used to inform our questioning
of witnesses. The forum received 494 comments from 171 contributors.
We are grateful to the Army Rumour Service for hosting this forum
for us and to all those who contributed. We are also grateful
to our Specialist Advisers[8]
and our staff.
6. At the beginning of our Report, we wish to
pay tribute to Army personnel, including those who have left the
Services, for their bravery, dedication to duty and their contribution
to the nation's security. This has been an uncertain and worrying
time for the Armed Forces as they undergo major changes to their
structure and role while continuing to undertake operations in
Afghanistan and other parts of the world. We also recognise the
valuable role that their families play in supporting them as they
carry out their duties.
1 HM Government, Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty:
The Strategic Defence and Security Review, Cm 7948, October
2010, pp 19-20 and pp 24-25 Back
2
Ibid, pp 27-28 and pp 32-33 Back
3
HC Deb, 5 July 2012, cols 1085-1110; see also British Army, Modernising
to face an unpredictable future: Transforming the British Army,
July 2012 Back
4
Regular Army Basing Plan: HC Deb, 5 March 2013, cols 845-848;
Role of Reserves and Reserves basing: HC Deb, 3 July 2013, cols
922-925, HC Deb, 3 July 2013, cols 49-53WS and HC Deb, 4 July
2013, cols 61-62WS, see also Ministry of Defence, Reserves
in the Future Force 2020: Valuable and Valued, Cm 8655 July
2013 Back
5
Applicants for redundancy would serve up to six months notice
and non-applicants facing compulsory redundancy, 12 months Back
6
Ibid Back
7
Defence Committee, The work of the Ministry of Defence and
the Armed Forces, Oral and written evidence, 12 July 2012,
HC 525-i, Qq 24-26 and Ev 15-16 and Ev 22-24 Back
8
The Committee's Specialist Advisers are: Rear Admiral (retired)
Chris Snow, Major General (retired) Mungo Melvin, Air Marshal
(retired) Philip Sturley, Professor Michael Clarke, Dr John Louth,
Mr Paul Beaver and Mr Chris Donnelly. Their declarations of interests
can be found in the Committee's Formal Minutes which are available
on the Committee's website. Back
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