The Defence Committee session with Defence Secretary John Healey highlighted discussions around recruitment challenges and potential solutions, including increasing flexibility for Commonwealth recruits and introducing fast-track processes for specialist roles.
Alex Baker raised concerns about the current 15% cap on Commonwealth recruits per cap badge, suggesting that the limit might hinder the UK’s ability to address recruitment shortages.
He pointed out that “with 36,000 Commonwealth soldiers in the pipeline, are we not missing a trick?”
John Healey responded by acknowledging the strong interest from Commonwealth applicants:
“Our level of recruitment of soldiers from the Commonwealth in particular is actually relatively high at the moment. It might be that many more want to apply than we can take, which is good, because it means that we get a selection of the best.”
While Healey recognised the value of their contribution, he emphasised the importance of addressing recruitment challenges across the board:
“Theoretically we could [increase the cap], but I have a concern about our recruitment across the board rather than one specific group.”
Baker also highlighted specific shortages in medical roles, including radiographers, dental nurses, and mental health nurses, suggesting a need for a fast-track process similar to the one recently introduced for cyber engineers.
Healey agreed, stating:
“The short answer is yes, undoubtedly. The opportunities are there not just for full-time recruitment but for reservist recruitment. That sort of hybrid can be attractive to many people, particularly if they have skills like that.”
He added that many full-time medical personnel in the Armed Forces also contribute to the NHS, demonstrating a fluid relationship between military and civilian roles:
“Many of those in the medical service who are full-time forces personnel work a lot of their time in the NHS and make a contribution to our NHS as well.”
At the UK Defence Journal, we aim to deliver accurate and timely news on defence matters. We rely on the support of readers like you to maintain our independence and high-quality journalism. Please consider making a one-off donation to help us continue our work. Click here to donate. Thank you for your support!
This is a repeat of NHS recruiting abroad for staff. Think UK workers should get the opportunity first even if they may need more support initially.
We don’t have enough people from Britain signing up at all, it isn’t a question of competing for places.
This seems a perfectly sensible idea and more Commonwealth cooperation seems a good thing in general with all of the China Belt and Road stuff going on.
There is something very wrong in the U.K. In 1800 we had a population of around 10m but the armed forces were still considerably larger than they are now with a population 7 times bigger. I don’t buy into the narrative that the entire younger generation are not interested and for me the fault lies clearly with the political establishment of the last 25 years.
You can delve into the details and look at outsourcing of recruitment, poor housing, low pay and the list is pretty long but virtually all these issues come back to our political leaders.
We are bankrupt in more ways than just financial and the change required will only come from an external shock because our political and media class are clearly incapable of bringing it about.
So in line with this modern British thinking why not entirely outsource our military and recruit from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.
So for employers and now the MOD it has always been easier to employ job ready people from abroad who are more willing and compliant. Obviously every uk person given a professional job opportunity and lifted out of poverty or given increased life chances is a massive win for uk society and economy. Currently approx 18% of working people are classed as in poverty. We can do better.
In the 1800’s most of the population could not read, now nearly half of all young adults go to tertiary education. That’s the massive difference. In addition until 1947 the majority of British service personnel were either paid for by the east India company or the British Raj and other colonial governments and their was a major chance of winning fame and fortune in the military.
It’s not really an apples to apples comparison.
We have also just come out of 20 years of pissing money and young lives up the wall on Middle East interventions only for the Americans to surrender at the last minute.
It’s really not surprising recruitment figures are lower.
There were plenty of people wanting to join the army in 2008 when we had massive unemployment and two wars to fight. Few people ever want to joint peace time military forces and even less when employment is high.
Jim, when you treat your personnel like c@ap and make 20,000 redundant as we did in 2010 followed by further piecemeal reductions in numbers and conditions of service you get where we are now.
Until our Government increases numbers and investment in the armed forces young people quite rightly see the military as a poor career choice. That retention rates are poor tells you a lot about how many feel.
What do those currently serving in the RM’s and perhaps those contemplating joining think at the moment when your principal shipping capability has been scrapped to save a paltry £9m a year with no sign of replacement.
Actions do truly speak louder than words.
Forces News reports that fewer than 1 in 10 applicants end up joining British forces due flawed application process.
The UK isn’t the only nation looking to foreign nationals to meet recruitment shortfalls.
English, Scottish and Canadian accents are already becoming more common across the ADF, joining the military after being granted permanent residency in Australia (normally after 4 years) or if currently serving in a foreign military directly transferring via the Overseas Lateral Recruitment Scheme (OLRS).
However since 1 June this year New Zealand citizens can now join the ADF after only 1 year living in Australia with US, British and Canadian citizens set to be eligible from 1 January next year.
I wonder which parts of the Commonwealth the UK is expecting to recruit from? I suspect the Australian lifestyle coupled with some serious investment by the ADF in new kit might attract more traffic our way. We’ll have to wait and see.
The USA has the greatest military on planet earth and they have allowed foreigners to join since 1863. They don’t even have a Commonwealth.
Logically, it is always going to be harder to recruit for a given number of posts from a population of 67 million than from a population in the billions. Commonwealth nationals have always been eligible to serve in the armed forces so the very existence of a cap on numbers baffles me.
Been saying this for year’s 🙄 .OT just watch intview on GBN with former boss of Mi6 he can’t believe Labour have made more defence cuts ,and believes it should be top of the list even above NHS although knows it’s unpopular. Well done for speaking up in my view .
Labour haven’t made defence cuts, they increased the defence budget by nearly £3 billion.
I suggest you don’t get your news from GBN if you wan to stay informed.
Defence had one of the biggest increases of any budget except health.
Labour has made cuts in some equipment that was largely lying idle, I don’t agree with these cuts however they did them primarily so they could give soldiers a wage increase in line with inflation.
I know a lot of commentators on here would prefer we spent everything on shiny new ships and tanks but I for one am glad to see service personnel finally start to get real wage increases after 14 years of cuts.
Indeed bad wages and conditions are likely to be one of the main reason that both the NHS and British Army are having to look abroad to recruit.
It’s not the lack of personnel applying, it’s the “Crapita” process that is the issue.
People excluded for childhood asthma, recruitment process taking months not weeks.
As a 16 year old, I visited the recruitment office in the March, went to Sutton Colfield in the Easter for “trade testing/ selection”, had my parents sign in the May to allow me to join and started as a apprentice in REME in the September after having done my O levels.
This debate about raising the 15% ceiling per capbadge (which I had not heard about before) is second order.
More to the point, and I’m surprised Healey did not know this, is that MoD has imposed a closure of ‘the window’ for Commonwealth applicants and has done for a very long time – at least a year if not longer. I find that inexplicable as there is a recruiting ‘crisis’.
Applications from Commonwealth citizens are not currently being welcomed or processed according to the MoD website!
The problem is with a disjointed slow moving bureaucracy within the MoD Graham.
Change is ‘cripplingly’ slow.
It’s beyond bleeding obvious that we should tap into the large pool of potential recruits from our commonwealth!