At the Labour Party Conference 2024, Defence Secretary John Healey unveiled significant reforms to address the recruitment challenges faced by the British Armed Forces.
Healey spoke of Labour’s commitment to modernising recruitment and improving conditions for service personnel, while reaffirming the Government’s dedication to national security.
“Over the last 10 years, more than a million applied to join the Forces,” Healey said. “Yet 3 in 4 gave up on the process because it takes months and is tied up in red tape.” To combat this, Healey announced three major steps to tackle the recruitment crisis:
- Scrapping 100 outdated policies that currently block people from joining the military.
- Setting new targets for the Forces to reject or make a conditional offer to applicants within 10 days, and to give people a training start date within 30 days.
- Introducing a direct recruitment route for cyber specialists, particularly targeting top gamers and coders. “If you are a top gamer or coder, your country needs you,” Healey said.
In addition to tackling recruitment challenges, Healey also announced plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP—marking the highest level since 2010. He underscored Labour’s vision to support both the Armed Forces and veterans, improve military housing, and ensure all personnel are paid at least the national living wage.
At #LabourConference2024, Defence Secretary John Healey announced reforms to tackle Armed Forces recruitment challenges, including scrapping 100 policies, speeding up applications, and creating a new route for cyber specialists. pic.twitter.com/82gCBQNIFZ
— UK Defence Journal (@UKDefJournal) September 23, 2024
“We’ve delivered the largest pay rise for the Armed Forces in over 20 years,” Healey stated. He also stressed the Government’s commitment to Ukraine, pledging continued military support and training for Ukrainian troops through 2025. “We’ve stepped up our support for Ukraine,” Healey said.
“A new defence industrial strategy, a treaty with new export guarantees, and a pledge to spend £3 billion in military support this year, next year, and every year it takes for Ukraine to win.”
Reflecting on Labour’s recent electoral successes in military communities, Healey noted that “Labour is the Party of Defence,” referencing the party’s record wins in areas like Wycombe, Portsmouth, and Aldershot.
In closing, Healey said, “We will always maintain the highest standards and create an Armed Forces that draws the very best of British talent. Better fit to fight. Better reflecting the country they defend.”
Great speech if they follow through, money and recruitment solves all the arm force’s problems.
Can’t believe how bad those rejection rates are. Shoes you kids still want to serve.
Agreed. Looks like Labour are at least talking about doing something right.
Just woke up after yet another weekend of ……? This post is completely incoherent. Why don’t you call Frank and have a chat about it?
What’s his number?
Call FRANK 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 0300 123 6600
what are you talking about?
Changing it so fat couch potatoes with an xbox or wheezy kids who can’t run 50 yards without an inhaler can now join instead of actively sorting out recruitment and retention issues is the cheap and easy option
its also the wrong one -Patheticly laughable tbh.
The point is that it was a rejection even if you were issued with an inhaler when you were 7, but never used it. Surely it’s about whether you can pass a fitness trial by the end of basic training.
Exactly. It almost doesn’t matter how unfit you are when you apply so long as a doctor certifies you can be knocked into shape.
Except it wasn’t, it just took longer getting (and paying for) your GP to confirm that you no longer had asthma. This is exactly what happened when I applied, albeit a few years ago now. Also true of old injuries.
Exactly the same.. failed first medical because of asthma history as a child. GP wrote a letter to recruitment office.. Had to start the process again
And by then had an offer in civvie street for tax free money in the sun
The truth is you were lucky, actually getting any medical professional to essentially reverse a previous diagnosis is very very difficult and many simply would not do it. Generally the most healthcare professionals will do is add a note to your record saying you disagree with a diagnosis. The reason most of them will not is that disease is dynamic, you many have needed inhalers when you were 12…at 18 your not using them..but suddenly you get an exacerbation at 25 and drop dead from asthma or arrest and were resuscitated and needed all care for the rest of your… Read more »
I can’t remember the wording of the letter but I’m assuming this is essentially what happened and it was good enough for the RM (subsequently failed my selection, ho hum!).
same for me – and tbh I agreed with the decision…I was dissapointed yes but it was I thought a fair judgement.
Maybe those types of recruits will be better as cyber specialists?
or they could have jobs at the NCA or GCHQ if they are clever enough…which surely you would want them to be given the nature of that job?
Depends. It’s the couch potato/wheezy kids who can’t run 50 yards who are the best ones to be able to operate drones. You just have to make sure that you use them as drone operators and don’t force them to become infantry. Horses for courses – a thoroughbred is no good for pulling a plough or a cart, a shire horse no good at sprinting.
Yes but, if you can attack a countries ability to fight via cyber attack ( and china will cyber attack the crap out of any nation it thinks it’s going to go to war with) then actually recruiting people who have those skills is not a bad idea.
Also they have stated they are sorting out all the issues and blocks to recruitment and retention. So I would say it’s actually a positive message, results count but I’m not sure how you can bitch about them saying they will remove the blocks to recruitment by speeding up processes..
I want to see the issues around recruitment and retention addressed properly not by a carte blanche realligment of the process to include those previously not considered fit for recruitment.
I would imagine the issue is actually the question of who does offensive cyber. Now defensive cyber you can say that’s a security forces issue, not uniformed services. But offensive cyber changes that, you can undertake mass casualty attacks using offensive cyber, destroy significant parts of a nation’s infrastructure and war-fighting ability. Now I’m not really sure it’s appropriate to be asking a “civilian” to essentially wage war and kill people while saying you’re not good enough to be considered a member of the armed forces. It’s my personal view if you expect someone to take on the weight of… Read more »
I believe the USMC are now running a fat camp for prospective recruitments….
The main issue was the huge % of recruits leaving before any kind of selection got going just because it took so long. Solve that problem and you have plenty of fit enthusiastic people to put through the system. Quality will improve. I’ll bet what was going on was resource choke points around ‘cost of various bottlenecks’ hitting budgets. Amazing the way the NHS mentality permeates. Thing is the ‘costs’ are not real as the establishment and trainers are all there full time as are the base staff. The cost of a bit of food, uniform and basic training is… Read more »
Unfortunately, managing your establishment as a cost control has become endemic, slowing and blocking recruitment is unfortunately endemic in the public sector and with private sector organisations that have government contracts. As a way to manage overspend and over performance against funded capacity it works in the short term, but is profoundly destabilising in the long term. I cannot tell you the number of times where providers have told me “ they cannot recruit to positions and have done their best, when I know for a fact they have not even bothered putting out adverts for months.
The inability to understand the difference between cost and value!
Or how failing to spend now will cost Nx more later…
I hope we see the policy enacted very soon.
It would help if Captcha or whoever it was removed from the recruitment process
Well said. Biggest mistake was “privatising” recruitment.
Surprising that it was the army that was selected for contractorised recruitmentt all those years ago. Should have been the smallest service as a trial run.
Interesting that the RAF and RN never had to suffer the likes of Capita.
Graham, I suspect someone may have been looking for a “top job” as their career was coming to an end.
You certainly occasionally see “defence” companies suddenly getting additional “military” press and lo and behold, a former “Red tab”, is suddenly working for said company.
Crapita
I failed the eye sight test as an officer, was then let in as a rating, and two years later passed OSB and was commissioned! A general waste of time and money for both sides. The above inflation pay rise is good, but the government and Treasury have emphasised that the MOD will be given no extra money to pay for it! So effectively the MOD is now being forced to make immediate cuts to non-pay spending due to a decision by a third party that it had almost no control over. Hence the reports that exercises are being cancelled… Read more »
Pay rise, from within existing money, not new money. What pays for it?
What about the RFA Mr Healey?
2.5% Repeat of usual “one day” if Starmer ever gets round to it, or any new certainties?
Otherwise, on the reforms, crack on.
How about reintroducing ACOs and AFCOs with real military people in them?
The pay rise to be absorbed in-year with no new money has always been the case. its not just this year, not just this Government. MoD will ask for an uplift for the next year to catch up, but always run a year in arrears until they get the new money or at least ask for it.
Ok, thanks for that detail.
Counter point:
If we have headcount limits, how many pids will be taken up by ACO’s.
To be honest, I’ve no idea! How many were there, and how many Pids per office?
We can find personnel for an Experimentation Battalion, and for Demo/Opfor Coys, so maybe a “Careers Company” of vets or FTRS no longer deploying?
Just a thought?
Neither do I, just food for thought.
I was greeted by my son who serves that the good news about a decent pay rise with ‘yes but they have put the cost of accommodation up along with one or two other costs so we are no better off’. I have recently been informed that exercises and training have been cancelled for this financial year.
I assume we have told Putin and other nasty people they will have to wait before they cause any more trouble until the new financial year.
Meanwhile the invasion continues across the Channel and our PM has got a new suit.
He’s really being a bit silly, accommodation is at most (ie for the highest priced) 120£ per month after the increase. That’s about 20£ more, or 240 per anum. The pay increase was an extra grand plus 6%. He’s certainly better off than he was.
“The invasion across the channel” good grief bigotry is dramatic sometimes.
what about the RFA?
Thank goodness. 3/4 being rejected or giving up is ridiculous.
Choosing to join the forces shouldn’t be a long process.
Basics, why this hasn’t been addressed for years is sheer incompetence, a recruitment process that deters recruitment is not fit for purpose. The glacial time lag is the big reason why people find something else, really basic problem to solve.
“We’ve delivered the largest pay rise for the Armed Forces in over 20 years,”
Actually no you didn’t as this was funded from within the MoD budget – it wasn’t new money.
Political spin!
Get rid of Capita and recruit using ex servicemen to do the same job. Capita have underperformed in most of their contracts for years.