As at 1 July 2008, the full time trained strength of the UK Armed Forces was 173,370 against a target of 179,160. This comprises 167,970 UK regular forces, 1,830 full time reserve Service personnel and 3,570 Gurkhas. There were also 17,590 untrained UK regulars and 270 untrained Gurkhas.
There has been an 11.7 per cent increase (2,250 people) in the number of new recruits who have joined the Armed Forces in the 12 months to 30 June 2008, compared to the previous year. There has also been a 12.6 per cent increase (1,830 people) in the number of recruits who have joined the trained strength of the Armed Forces compared with the same period last year.
Overall, the number of people leaving the trained strength of the Armed Forces in the 12 months to 30 June 2008 has decreased by 1.4 per cent compared with the 12 months to 30 June 2007.
The number of people joining the Armed Forces for their initial training is at its highest point since 31 March 2004. The number of people completing their training and moving into the deployable strength of the Armed Forces is also at its highest point since 31 March 2005. The number of people leaving trained strength is at its lowest since March 2006.
Minister for the Armed Forces Bob Ainsworth said:
"We face strong competition from other employers and our personnel are very much in demand owing to the skills and experience they acquire during service life. At a time when the Armed Forces are heavily committed to operations, recruitment and retention of high quality people is more important than ever. We are determined to tackle these challenges.
"We face strong competition from other employers and our personnel are very much in demand owing to the skills and experience they acquire during service life."
Minister for the Armed Forces Bob Ainsworth
"Recent initiatives include pay rises, financial retention incentives, increased operational allowances, the introduction of increased commitment bonuses of up to £15,000 to reward longer service, and a new £20million pilot scheme to offer more affordable home ownership.
"The recently published Service Personnel Command Paper sets out a range of new initiatives to address some of the disadvantages which have previously affected our Service personnel, their families and veterans. These include improved access to health, housing and education."
Since 1 July 2007, the proportion of females in the UK regular forces has risen 0.3 percentage points to 11.9 per cent for officers and 0.1 of a percentage point to 9.0 per cent for other ranks.
The percentage of UK regular forces from ethnic minority backgrounds continues to rise; at 1 July 2008 ethnic minorities accounted for 6.2 per cent of UK regular forces compared to 5.9 per cent at the same point last year.