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Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Monday, 16 April 2018, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 19 April 2018 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Thursday, 19 April 2018. A substantive answer was provided by Tobias Ellwood (Conservative) on Tuesday, 24 April 2018 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.


Armed Forces

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many fewer full-time (a) male and (b) female service personnel there were at the most recent date for which data is available compared with 2010.

Answer

The number of full-time, UK Regular Service personnel, broken down by gender and year, can be found in the table below.

1 October 2010

1 October 2017

Decrease from
1 October 2010 to 1 October 2017

Male

170,620

132,300

38,330

Female

18,060

15,230

2,840

The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review looked to restructure the Armed Forces to face future challenges and affordability, resulting in a reduction to Armed Forces strength. The Armed Forces have enough personnel to meet operational requirements.

The Ministry of Defence’s published Diversity Statistics can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2017.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
135936
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Armed forces Women Men Working hours
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk