Reviving Royal Navy sees more people join up but RAF and Army struggling in bid to solve "unacceptable" levels

Personnel joining and leaving the RAF is relatively stable, although the Army is finding it hard to retain staff. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC outlined the figures in a Public Accounts Committee meeting on Monday (April 28).

Head of the committee, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said poor recruitment and retention has long plagued the military. Speaking to the experts panel, he said: “In recent times for every 100 soldiers that are recruited, 130 leave. That is clearly unacceptable. There’s a range of reasons for that. I’d be grateful if you could tell us what you intend to do to address that.”

Adm Radakin responded: “The armed forces are getting smaller each month to the tune of 200 to 300. That decrease is getting considerably less than it has been over the past couple of years. The Navy has stabilised and is starting to get bigger, the air force is reasonably stable, and the Army is still on a downward trajectory. It’s still a problem, but it’s easing, and the forecast is that it will bottom out and will start to rise across all the armed forces in the next two-three years.”

The government has implemented a range of measures to try and encourage people to join and stay in the forces. This included an above inflation pay rise shortly after Labour came into power, cutting over 100 medical policies which were considered “outdated”, and plans to renovate thousands of military houses across the country.

Adm Radakin said there are lots of people who want to join the armed forces, but we “have to get much better at converting those applications into recruits”. The Chief of Defence Staff added: “The numbers are really healthy. There are 13 people applying for every place that we turn into a service man or woman. We’re not as strong as we should be in terms of that conversion, but we’re better than we used to be.

“We’ve looked again at some of the barriers, not to reduce the quality and competitiveness, but to allow for more people to come forward.” Adm Radakin said they have been rigorous in looking at medical standards, looking at someone serving on the average of just over ten years rather than a full term of 22 years - while not accepting people who are unable to join.

He added that there are a whole range of initiatives to try and encourage people to stay in the forces - making sure they effectively serve their country, have fantastic careers and develop during their jobs. “Everybody now joins on that substantial salary you get in that first round,” the admiral said. “That’s a huge increase. It’s closer to £25,000, compared to the probationary wage of £18,800. That’s really significant.

“In a more demanding society, we haven’t treated them as strongly as we should in terms of their individual requirements. Some of that is being clearer about the stability of life, the training we offer them, and the exciting opportunities we offer.”