UK MoD Responds to the National Audit Office's Report on Recruiting and Retention In Armed Forces

, The Under Secretary of State for Defence, Derek Twigg, today welcomed the publication of the National Audit Office report on recruiting and retention. The Report, based on an MoD survey of around 5,500 current and former Service personnel in a selection of 'pinch point' undermanned trades including doctors and some engineering and aircrew specialisations. The Report highlights the Department's continuing commitment to understanding the issues effecting recruiting and retention in the Armed Forces when they are deployed on operations. 
 
Commenting on the Report, Mr Twigg said: 
 
“Our Armed Forces are heavily engaged in defending both the Nation's and International community's, interests around the world, and the Government recognises that the Armed Forces currently face a particularly high level of operational commitment. As the Chief of Defence Staff has stated our forces are stretched but not overstretched. This Report shows that just under 60% of our people believe that the period between operational deployments is about right. 
 
“We do understand the impact that frequent operational tours have on serving personnel, their friends and families and we have recently announced improvements in pay and benefits for those who are deployed on operations. Moreover we will continue to identify measures to address the effects of this period of high operational tempo and are restructuring our forces to spread the load more evenly.” 
 
“We accept that there is currently a shortfall of 2.8% in Armed Forces personnel but we should not be surprised by this in light of the Government's success in creating a buoyant economy with high employment. Therefore the Armed Forces are recruiting in a very competitive market yet against this background it has achieved 98% of its recruitment targets over the last 5 years which is an excellent result. 
 
“These recruiting successes have made good headway in addressing some of the shortfalls in some of the key trades and whilst we are not yet in manning balance in the RN and RAF there is a clear evidence that the RN is on an improving curve to achieving that target and the RAF's shortfall of 3.8% is skewed by the current drawdown and restructuring. Our exit rates, whilst slightly higher than forecast, are within historical trends, but are again reflective of the wider employment opportunities in the private sector. 
 
Military service is very different to civilian life and brings with it unique challenges and demands particular commitment from personnel and their dependants. We have always recognised this and the Department is developing a new Service Personnel Plan which includes initiatives such as the Strategic Review of Remuneration, a Review of Terms and Conditions of Service, that includes examination of flexible career opportunities, and The Defence Living Accommodation Strategy which will report next year. These and other initiatives will improve terms and conditions of service for personnel and positively impact on recruitment and retention. 
 
On the issue of retention, Mr Twigg added 
 
“Our focus is to improve retention through polices that genuinely reflect the priorities of our people and their families whilst optimising their operational effectiveness. We have a flexible suite of retention measures, including both financial and other non-financial benefits, which are applied carefully and consistently to address key manning pinch points and I am glad that the NAO have confirmed that these represent good value for money. 
 
“The Department has introduced five financial retention incentive schemes, at a cost of