Recent answers from Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard MP have revealed detailed insights into the training budgets of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force from FY2018-19 to FY2023-24.
These figures highlight trends in spending on Phase 1 (basic training) and Phase 2 (initial training) for each service, illustrating significant investment growth in several areas.
The detailed training budgets for each branch of the Armed Forces are summarised below:
Royal Navy
| Year | Budget (£M) |
|---|---|
| FY2018-19 | 23.783 |
| FY2019-20 | 21.989 |
| FY2020-21 | 25.198 |
| FY2021-22 | 64.984 |
| FY2022-23 | 101.330 |
| FY2023-24 | 112.128 |
The Royal Navy’s training budget has seen the most dramatic growth, surging from £23.783 million in FY2018-19 to £112.128 million in FY2023-24.
British Army
| Year | Budget (£M) |
|---|---|
| FY2018-19 | 90.998 |
| FY2019-20 | 95.057 |
| FY2020-21 | 93.499 |
| FY2021-22 | 91.225 |
| FY2022-23 | 98.883 |
| FY2023-24 | 104.749 |
The British Army’s budget has seen steadier increases, rising from £90.998 million in FY2018-19 to £104.749 million in FY2023-24.
Royal Air Force Training Budgets
| Year | Budget (£M) |
|---|---|
| FY2018-19 | 55.482 |
| FY2019-20 | 73.274 |
| FY2020-21 | 65.237 |
| FY2021-22 | 70.998 |
| FY2022-23 | 66.007 |
| FY2023-24 | 86.206 |
The Royal Air Force’s training budget has also grown, increasing from £55.482 million in FY2018-19 to £86.206 million in FY2023-24.
A cost per head would be useful. The Army cost per head would work out to be quite small.
If we’re spending more on training, might it be a faint hope that we’ll start spending more on other things, too, e.g. growing the size of our forces?