Applications to Navy plummet after switch to online system

ARMY recruitment woes blamed on an online application system outsourced to Capita are spreading to the Royal Navy, it has emerged.

Naval sources said early indications suggest the number of applications passing through the system is half what it was before the Capita system was introduced in November.

Sources said candidates’ details were being lost or not saved, and forms were being sent back leading to long delays for those who wanted to join up.

Recruiters are resorting to writing down details by hand so they have backup copies of applications.

The difficulties mirror problems faced by the Army, where large numbers of prospective troops are feared to be dropping out of the applications process because of delays.

Official figures show that a record high of around 100,000 people tried to join the Army last year, but fewer than 7,500 eventually became soldiers.

The Army needs around 10,000 new soldiers a year to maintain its size and is already more than 4,000 troops below its target strength of 82,000 regulars.

Capita signed a £1.3billion deal with the MOD to run recruitment in 2012.

The Army began using the new system first, but it was rolled out to the Navy and RAF in November.

An MOD source insisted that as the Capita system only began to be rolled out for the Navy and RAF in November it was too early to ascertain whether it was responsible for any recruitment problems. Navy and RAF applications are partly carried out by uniformed personnel and not entirely dependent on the IT programme, they added.