Millions spent to boost Army Reserve ... but just 140 recruits join
ONLY 140 new Army reservists have been recruited this year – despite the Ministry of Defence spending millions on an advertising campaign designed to persuade thousands to sign up. The poor figures dramatically underline the crisis Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is facing to push through the Coalition’s controversial cost-cutting reforms.
Under the Armed Forces shake-up, ministers are cutting the strength of the regular Army by 20,000, while doubling the Territorial Army – now called the Army Reserve – to 30,000 by 2020.
But the latest MoD statistics reveal that the number of trained reservists rose in the first six months of the year from 19,150 to 19,290 – an increase of just 140, or 23 a month. At this rate, it would take 39 years to meet the 30,000 target.
Military chiefs had spent at least £2million on a television advertising campaign to try to persuade thousands to sign up as part-time soldiers – working out at a cost of around £15,000 for each of the 140 new recruits.
The figures emerged ahead of the Nato summit in Wales this week where Western military allies will discuss the threats posed by Russian aggression in Ukraine and jihadist fighters in the Middle East.
The Coalition has faced warnings that sacking full-time troops before having enough reserves in place is hampering Britain’s ability to respond militarily to situations. Tory MP John Baron, a former Army officer who has led criticism of the reforms, said: ‘We live in an increas-
‘This should be a wake-up call’
ingly uncertain world. We see more money being spent on armed forces by countries who are not necessarily friendly to the West.
‘This should be a wake-up call to the West that we need to spend more money on our forces. With the military, Britain has not cut just to the bone, but into the bone.’
Mr Baron pointed out that reservists cost more to train and deploy than regular soldiers – undermining the potential savings expected by the MoD. He warned that if top brass failed to recruit enough troops the shortfall could jeopardise Britain’s security.
In June, ministers announced 1,060 troops were being made redundant – the last of four rounds of job cuts that has left the regular Army at its weakest since before the Napoleonic wars more than 200 years ago. The National Audit Office also criticised the MoD over proposals to slash the regular army and warned recruitment of parttime soldiers appeared to be five years behind schedule.
And a report from senior officers this summer said the plans had made an ‘extremely poor start’.
An MoD spokesman said: ‘The reserves are being rebuilt and we are investing £1.8billion in better training and equipment.
‘We are one year into a five-year plan and the number of people joining the Army Reserve over the last 12 months is increasing.’