Recommendation 45 of the Strategic Defence Review is a planning assumption to inform equipment, training, and workforce readiness. The Battalion Group will be formed from across 16 Air Assault Brigade – predominantly 2 PARA and 3 PARA.

It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

The internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment has been in place since 15 November 2023 and will be in place until 31 March 2025 or until the allocated number of bounties have been taken up. Since 15 November, one person has completed training and 12 are in training to pass selection in the new year.

£150,000 has been budgeted in financial year 2023-24 to pay for these bounties.

The below table shows the strength of the Parachute Regiment between 2010-23. I am however withholding the workforce requirement as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the British Army.

Source: Analysis (Army)

Notes/Caveats:

1. The figures are for the Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but include those personnel that have transferred from GURTAM to UKTAP.

2. Figures include Other Ranks regardless of Training status and Officers who have completed Phase 1 Training. Personnel joining the commissioning course at RMAS are not assigned an Arm/Service until completion of the course and are therefore not included in the above.

3. Figures have been rounded to 10 though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example, a value of ‘25’ would be rounded down to ‘20’ and a value of ‘15’ would be rounded up to ‘20’.

The internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment has been in place since 15 November 2023 and will be in place until 31 March 2025 or until the allocated number of bounties have been taken up. Since 15 November, one person has completed training and 12 are in training to pass selection in the new year.

£150,000 has been budgeted in financial year 2023-24 to pay for these bounties.

The below table shows the strength of the Parachute Regiment between 2010-23. I am however withholding the workforce requirement as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the British Army.

Source: Analysis (Army)

Notes/Caveats:

1. The figures are for the Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but include those personnel that have transferred from GURTAM to UKTAP.

2. Figures include Other Ranks regardless of Training status and Officers who have completed Phase 1 Training. Personnel joining the commissioning course at RMAS are not assigned an Arm/Service until completion of the course and are therefore not included in the above.

3. Figures have been rounded to 10 though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example, a value of ‘25’ would be rounded down to ‘20’ and a value of ‘15’ would be rounded up to ‘20’.

The internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment has been in place since 15 November 2023 and will be in place until 31 March 2025 or until the allocated number of bounties have been taken up. Since 15 November, one person has completed training and 12 are in training to pass selection in the new year.

£150,000 has been budgeted in financial year 2023-24 to pay for these bounties.

The below table shows the strength of the Parachute Regiment between 2010-23. I am however withholding the workforce requirement as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the British Army.

Source: Analysis (Army)

Notes/Caveats:

1. The figures are for the Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but include those personnel that have transferred from GURTAM to UKTAP.

2. Figures include Other Ranks regardless of Training status and Officers who have completed Phase 1 Training. Personnel joining the commissioning course at RMAS are not assigned an Arm/Service until completion of the course and are therefore not included in the above.

3. Figures have been rounded to 10 though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example, a value of ‘25’ would be rounded down to ‘20’ and a value of ‘15’ would be rounded up to ‘20’.

The internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment has been in place since 15 November 2023 and will be in place until 31 March 2025 or until the allocated number of bounties have been taken up. Since 15 November, one person has completed training and 12 are in training to pass selection in the new year.

£150,000 has been budgeted in financial year 2023-24 to pay for these bounties.

The below table shows the strength of the Parachute Regiment between 2010-23. I am however withholding the workforce requirement as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the British Army.

Source: Analysis (Army)

Notes/Caveats:

1. The figures are for the Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but include those personnel that have transferred from GURTAM to UKTAP.

2. Figures include Other Ranks regardless of Training status and Officers who have completed Phase 1 Training. Personnel joining the commissioning course at RMAS are not assigned an Arm/Service until completion of the course and are therefore not included in the above.

3. Figures have been rounded to 10 though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example, a value of ‘25’ would be rounded down to ‘20’ and a value of ‘15’ would be rounded up to ‘20’.

The internal transfer bounty for the Parachute Regiment has been in place since 15 November 2023 and will be in place until 31 March 2025 or until the allocated number of bounties have been taken up. Since 15 November, one person has completed training and 12 are in training to pass selection in the new year.

£150,000 has been budgeted in financial year 2023-24 to pay for these bounties.

The below table shows the strength of the Parachute Regiment between 2010-23. I am however withholding the workforce requirement as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the British Army.

Source: Analysis (Army)

Notes/Caveats:

1. The figures are for the Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but include those personnel that have transferred from GURTAM to UKTAP.

2. Figures include Other Ranks regardless of Training status and Officers who have completed Phase 1 Training. Personnel joining the commissioning course at RMAS are not assigned an Arm/Service until completion of the course and are therefore not included in the above.

3. Figures have been rounded to 10 though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example, a value of ‘25’ would be rounded down to ‘20’ and a value of ‘15’ would be rounded up to ‘20’.

Defence regularly reviews the requirement for its airdrop capability and will continue to do so following the publication of the Integrated Review Refresh.

A number of steps are already being taken to increase the number of combat-ready qualified parachutists including using Army Parachute Jump Instructors to support the RAF's training delivery, the rollout of A400M Low-Level Parachute Capability, a short-term commercial contract solution for a military parachute training aircraft, and the procurement of a new military parachute system.

The Integrated Review will define the UK Government's ambition for the UK's role in the world and the long-term strategic aims for our national security and foreign policy. It is too early to discuss specific capabilities, but I can assure you that this country will continue to have the world class Armed Forces that it needs and deserves.

The Army has sufficient trained personnel to undertake the operations that help keep Britain safe. I am withholding information about the numbers who have completed parachute training and those who have not qualified as military parachutists as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

There are no plans to ban the practice of milling as part of the selection process for the Parachute Regiment. As a training activity milling is subject to risk assessment and review. To mitigate any risk milling bouts are regulated to ensure compliance under departmental Medical, Training and Health and Safety policy. A General Practitioner (GP), a dedicated ambulance and a paramedic are in attendance at all times milling takes place. The GP conducts a pre-medical to assess a participant's fitness and make them aware of the risks. Participants can withdraw at any time.

The Parachute Regiment are not accompanying the Afghan Security Forces, but instead are working in the UK-led Kabul Security Force, which is a NATO taskforce providing security and force protection for NATO advisors in the city.

The total UK contribution in Afghanistan is around 1,100 troops in non-combat roles, of which around 700 are in the Kabul Security Force.

Since 1 January 2015, the UK has been part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission which is a non-combat mission to Train, Advise and Assist Afghan security institutions and the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF). The Parachute Regiment currently contribute personnel to the Kabul Security force (KSF) under this mission. The KSF's primary role is to secure and enable the mentoring and training activity by the international community. The KSF also mentors parts of the ANDSF directly.