National statistics

Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 October 2020

Updated 17 December 2020

This publication provides information on the number of Military Personnel (defined as the strength), joining (intake) and leaving (outflow) the UK Armed Forces. Detail is provided for both the Full-time Armed Forces (AF) and Reserves. Further statistics can be found in the Excel tables.

The recent trends in Reserve personnel numbers in this report relate to the targets outlined in the Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme. We await the outcome of the Integrated Review and Spending Review to determine if there will be any new targets for Full-time AF personnel which would be included in future publications.

Some of the statistics previously published in the following publications can now be found in this release:

• Monthly Personnel Report
• Quarterly Personnel Report
• Annual Personnel Report
• UK Reserve Forces and Cadets
• Service Personnel Bulletin 2.01
• Service and Civilian Bulletin 2.03

Key Points and Trends

▲195,050	Strength of UK Forces Service Personnel at 1 October 2020 An increase of 2,400 (1.2 per cent) since 1 October 2019
▲134,200	Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) at 1 October 2020 An increase of 1,850 (1.4 per cent) since 1 October 2019
▼7.2%	Deficit against the planned number of personnel needed (Workforce Requirement) at 1 October 2020 A decrease in the deficit from 8.4 per cent as at 1 October 2019
▼14,590	People joined the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020) A decrease of 300 (2.0 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼12,950	People left the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020) A decrease of 2,170 (14.3 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼32,670	Strength of the Trained Future Reserves 2020 at 1 October 2020 A decrease of 90 (0.3 per cent) since 1 October 2019
▼5,020	People joined the Future Reserves 2020 in the past 12 months (1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020) A decrease of 690 (12.1 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼4,760	People left the Future Reserves 2020 in the past 12 months (1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020) A decrease of 350 (6.9 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period

Responsible Statistician: Tri-Service Head of Branch

Telephone: 020 7807 8896

Email: Analysis-Tri-Hd@mod.gov.uk

Further information/mailing list: Analysis-Tri-Hd@mod.gov.uk

Background Quality Report: Background Quality Report

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Introduction

This publication contains information on the strength, intake, outflow and gains to trained strength for the UK Armed Forces overall and each of the Services; Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM), Army and Royal Air Force (RAF).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced on 29 June 2016 that it was changing the Army trained, disciplined manpower by changing the definition of Trained Strength to include those in the Army who have completed Phase 1 training. This affects some Tri-Service totals. This does not affect the Naval Service or the RAF in any way. The MOD held a public consultation on SDSR Resilience: Trained strength definition for the Army and resultant changes to Ministry of Defence Armed Forces personnel statistics, between 11 July and 21 January 2017. A consultation response was published on 7 November 2016. The changes outlined in the consultation and response have been incorporated into this publication from the 1 October 2016 edition onwards. This affects statistics in some of the accompanying Excel table, specifically tables: 3a, 3e, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b and 7c. Terminology has also been updated in Excel tables 3c and 4.

Detailed statistics, including unrounded figures, and historic time series can be found in the Excel tables. These include quarterly statistics on the number of Service and Civilian Personnel, Separated Service (the proportion of personnel breaching harmony guidelines), Applications to each of the Services and Military Salaries. Further historic statistics will be added in due course; in the meantime, historic statistics can be found in the following archived publications:

• Monthly Personnel Report
• Quarterly Personnel Report
• Annual Personnel Report
• UK Reserve Forces and Cadets
• Service Personnel Bulletin 2.01
• Service and Civilian Bulletin 2.03
• UK Armed Forces Maternity Report
• Diversity Dashboard
• Quarterly Location Statistics

The glossary contains definitions of terminology used in this publication.

A calendar of upcoming MOD statistical releases can be found on GOV.UK

There have been a number of revisions in this publication, details of these can be found under further information.

A National Statistics publication

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

• meet identified user needs
• are well explained and readily accessible
• are produced according to sound methods
• are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

Policy Background

The main factors affecting decisions about the size of the Armed Forces required by the MOD to achieve success in its military tasks include:

• An assessment of current and future threats to UK national security.
• The need for contingent / reactive capability – the requirement to be able to respond immediately to domestic or international crisis.
• Current operational and international obligations (e.g. NATO, UN).
• Changes in technology, the introduction of new equipment and restructuring that leads to equipment becoming obsolete or surplus to requirements.
• The need to deliver against the military tasks as efficiently as possible, maintaining a balanced, affordable defence budget.

The Service personnel statistics in previous versions of this publication are reported against the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, released in November 2015. Prior to SDSR 2015, publications reported against the planned Future Force 2020, as set out in the SDSR 2010 which planned to reduce the size of the Armed Forces. The Integrated Review and Spending Review will determine if there will be any new targets for Full-time Armed Forces personnel. In addition, this will be reported in future publications.

Army Trained Strength

On 29 June 2016, the MOD announced that the Army planned to use Regular and Reserve Phase 1 trained personnel in response to crises within the UK. Following this, the term ‘Trained Strength’ would include all Army personnel trained in the core function of their Service (i.e. those who have completed Phase 1 training). The MOD has consulted on these changes and the resultant impact they will have on this publication and a consultation response was published on 7 October 2016.

From the 1 October 2016 edition onwards, Army personnel who have completed Phase 1 training (basic Service training) but not Phase 2 training (trade training), are considered trained personnel. This change enabled the Army to meet the SDSR 15 commitment to improve support to UK resilience. The Trained Strength definition for the Royal Navy, RAF, Maritime Reserve and RAF Reserves has not changed, reflecting the requirement for their personnel to complete Phase 2 training to be able to fulfil the core function of their respective Services.

Army personnel who have completed Phase 2 training are now called ‘Trade Trained’. This population aligns with the old definition of trained personnel, therefore maintaining the continuity of the statistical time series, and will continue to be counted against the workforce requirement.

The Army have undertaken a review of training requirements and Royal Engineers Other Ranks personnel joining from 1 July 2019 will become Trade Trained after Initial Trade Training (ITT) and will join the Full-time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS), and therefore we may see a change in the trend.

Full-Time Armed Forces Personnel

In order to meet the manpower reduction targets set out in SDSR 2010, the Three Month Exercise (3ME) and Army 2020, a redundancy programme coupled with adjusted recruiting (intake) and contract extensions, were set. The redundancy programme is now complete.

On 23 November 2015, the MOD published SDSR 2015. SDSR 2015 outlines plans to uplift the size of the Regular Armed Forces, setting targets for a strength of 82,000 for the Army, and increasing the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and Royal Air Force by a total of 700 personnel. The SDSR 2015 Defence Key Facts booklet announced new targets for 2020 for each of the Services.

Future Reserves 2020 Programme

The Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme aims to increase the size of the Reserve Forces. Further information on the growth of the Reserves can be found in the Policy Background section of previous Monthly Service Personnel Statistics publications.

As a result of the changes to Army Trained Strength (referred to above) and their impact on the Army Reserve, the MOD released a Written Ministerial Statement containing revised FR20 strength growth profiles on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on strength profiles only.

At the time of this statistical release, there has been no formal announcement of new targets beyond 31 March 2019. However, the Ministry of Defence’s recruitment campaign is a long-term programme and numbers continue to grow.

UK Service Personnel

Application data since 1 October 2017 has not been available. We are currently verifying received infor-mation and relevant figures will be included in later editions of this publication.

Strength is the number of personnel.

UK Regulars are full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guarding Service, Locally Engaged Personnel, and Non-Regular Permanent Service.

Volunteer Reserves voluntarily accept an annual training commitment and are liable to be mobilised to deploy on operations. They can be utilised on a part-time or full-time basis to provide support to the Regular Forces at home and overseas.

UK Service Personnel comprise the total strength of the military personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence (Excel tables, Table 1). The current strength of the UK Service Personnel is 195,050 which includes

• All UK Regular personnel and all Gurkha personnel (which combined at 1 October 2020 comprised 76.9 per cent of UK Service Personnel).
• Volunteer Reserve personnel (which at 1 October 2020 comprised 19.0 per cent of UK Service Personnel).
• Other Personnel including the Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel and elements of the Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) (which at 1 October 2020 comprised 4.1 per cent of UK Service Personnel).

The total strength of the UK Forces has increased between 1 October 2019 and 1 October 2020 by 1.2 per cent (2,400 personnel), as shown in Table 1. Since 1 October 2019, the total strength of the UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas and Other Personnel have all increased. The strength of the Volunteer Reserves has slightly decreased for Army since October 2019, but has increased for Navy and RAF.

Table 1: Trends in UK Forces Strength¹

	01-Oct-17	01-Oct-18	01-Oct-19	01-Apr-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20	% Change since 1 Oct 19
UK Forces Personnel	195,730	192,130	192,660	193,980	193,460	195,050	1.2%
UK Regular Forces	147,520	144,900	144,650	145,320	144,750	146,330	1.2%
Gurkhas	2,940	3,090	3,380	3,760	3,750	3,740	10.6%
Volunteer Reserve	37,090	36,310	36,830	37,060	37,150	37,040	0.6%
Other Personnel	8,180	7,840	7,790	7,840	7,810	7,940	2.0%
Royal Navy / Royal Marines	38,490	38,650	38,900	39,050	39,420	39,840	2.4%
UK Regular Forces	32,430	32,540	32,600	32,760	33,050	33,380	2.4%
Volunteer Reserve	3,680	3,750	3,910	3,870	3,950	4,000	2.5%
Other Personnel	2,380	2,360	2,390	2,420	2,420	2,450	2.5%
Army	120,350	116,140	116,730	117,560	116,800	117,810	0.9%
UK Regular Forces	82,210	79,640	79,330	79,620	78,880	80,040	0.9%
Gurkhas	2,940	3,090	3,380	3,760	3,750	3,740	10.6%
Volunteer Reserve	30,540	29,600	29,840	29,980	30,020	29,790	-0.2%
Other Personnel	4,670	4,270	4,180	4,200	4,160	4,240	1.5%
Royal Air Force	36,890	36,870	37,030	37,370	37,240	37,400	1.0%
UK Regular Forces	32,890	32,720	32,720	32,940	32,820	32,910	0.6%
Volunteer Reserve	2,870	2,960	3,090	3,200	3,180	3,240	5.1%
Other Personnel	1,130	1,200	1,220	1,220	1,240	1,250	2.9%

1. UK Forces comprises all UK Regular, Gurkha, Volunteer Reserve and Other personnel. The constituents of “Other personnel” are reported towards the top of this page.

Full-Time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (Army) and Workforce Requirement

The Full-time Trained Strength (FTTS) Royal Navy/Royal Marines and Royal Air Force (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS) (Army) (which comprises military personnel who have completed both ‘Phase 1’ and ‘Phase 2’ training) is counted against the Workforce Requirement. The difference between the two is measured as either a surplus or deficit. This is one indicator of the Service’s ability to execute military tasks. Other indicators include the surplus / deficit within key trades or in specific Ranks.

The Tri-Service FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) has increased by 1.1 per cent (1,850 personnel) between 1 October 2019 and 1 October 2020. The FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) comprises: 130,310 Regular personnel (97.1 per cent), 3,180 Gurkhas (2.4 per cent), and 710 Full-time Reserve Service personnel (0.5 per cent) who are filling Regular posts and count against the Workforce Requirement.

Table 2: FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) against Workforce Requirement

	01-Oct-17	01-Oct-18	01-Oct-19	01-Apr-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20
FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army)	137,280	135,360	132,340	132,630	132,250	134,200
Workforce Requirement	145,440	144,950	144,500	144,580	144,610	144,640
% Surplus/Deficit	-5.6%	-6.6%	-8.4%	-8.3%	-8.5%	-7.2%
RN/RM FTTS	29,280	29,160	29,010	29,040	28,860	29,030
Workforce Requirement	30,350	30,510	30,620	30,650	30,680	30,700
% Surplus/Deficit	-3.5%	-4.4%	-5.2%	-5.2%	-5.9%	-5.5%
Army FTTTS	77,440	76,130	74,470	73,900	73,780	75,310
Workforce Requirement	82,650	82,320	82,030	82,050	82,050	82,050
% Surplus/Deficit	-6.3%	-7.5%	-10.4%	-9.9%	-10.1%	-8.2%
RAF FTTS	30,560	30,070	29,860	29,690	29,610	29,850
Workforce Requirement	32,440	32,120	31,860	31,880	31,890	31,900
% Surplus/Deficit	-5.8%	-6.4%	-6.3%	-6.9%	-7.1%	-6.4%

The current deficit against the Workforce Requirement is 7.2 per cent for the UK Armed Forces. There is a deficit of 5.5 per cent, 8.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent in the (RN/RM), the Army and the (RAF) respectively, as can be seen in Table 2.

Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) includes all UK Regular personnel, Gurkhas and those elements of the Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) who are counted against the workforce requirement (see glossary for more detail).

Workforce Requirement is the number of Service personnel needed, based on the Defence Planning Round, set for each of the three Services.

Figure 1: FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) against Workforce Requirement

Full-Time Trained and Trade-Trained Strength (Army)

Table 3: Comparison of Full-Time Trained and Trade-Trained Strengths (Army)

	01-Oct-19	01-Jan-20	01-Apr-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20
Full-Time Trained Strength	78,680	78,870	79,010	79,280	80,760
of which Trade Trained	73,470	73,670	73,900	73,780	75,310

Figure 2: FTTS & FTTTS in the Army since Trained Strength definition change (Oct 16)

As can be seen from Figure 2, Army trained strength (FTTS) fell consistently between October 2016 and April 2019. This trend has now changed due to an increase in recruitment, which has fed into an increase in the number of recruits completing Phase 1 Training. Between October 2019 and October 2020, this fed into an increase into the Trade Trained (FTTTS) strength.

Table 4: Army Officers and Other Ranks by Training Status

	01-Oct-17	01-Oct-18	01-Oct-19	01-Apr-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20
Trained Officers	12,540	12,610	12,640	12,520	12,720	12,860
Trade Trained Officers	12,160	12,260	12,170	12,260	12,440	12,490
Trained Other Ranks	69,500	67,170	66,060	66,490	66,560	67,900
Trade Trained Other Ranks	65,280	63,870	61,300	61,640	61,340	62,820

Since 1 October 2017, the strength of the trained and trade trained Officers has decreased by 2.6 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively. Similarly, the strength of trained and trade trained Other Ranks has decreased by 2.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively, as can be inferred from Table 4 above.

UK Regular Personnel (excluding Gurkhas)

As at 1 October 2020, the Trained and Untrained Strength of the UK Regular Forces (which excludes Gurkhas) was 146,330. The Service split for this figure can be found in Table 5 below.

There are 11,140 untrained personnel in the UK Regular Forces (excluding Gurkhas), of which 4,670 are in the RN/RM, 3,360 in the Army and 3,110 are in the RAF. The Untrained Strength reflects the number of personnel who can potentially join the Trained Strength.

Table 5: UK Regular Forces by Service and Training Status

	01-Oct-19		01-Oct-20
RN/RM	32,600		33,380
of which Trained	28,640	87.9%	28,710	86.0%
Army	79,330		80,040
of which Trained	74,980	94.5%	76,680	95.8%
of which Trade Trained	70,230	88.5%	71,800	89.7%
RAF	32,720		32,910
of which Trained	29,820	91.1%	29,800	90.5%

Intake and Outflow

In the 12 months to 30 September 2020 there was a net intake of 1,630 personnel to the UK Regular Forces. This is in contrast to a net outflow of 240 in the 12 months to 30 September 2019. This is mainly driven by a gradual decline in Outflow which has decreased by 14.3 per cent. In the 12 months to January 2020 intake outstripped outflow for the first time since June 2010.

Intake

• Intake into the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 14,590 in the 12 months to 30 September 2020. This has decreased from 14,880 in the 12 months to 30 September 2019.
• In the 12 months to 30 September 2020, intake to the RN/RM has increased by 14.9 percent and intake to the Army and RAF has decreased by 6.7 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively when compared with the 12 months to 30 September 2019.

Figure 3: Intake to and Outflow from the UK Regular Forces over rolling 12-month periods

Outflow

Voluntary Outflow (VO) encompasses all trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained (Army) personnel who voluntarily exit before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period.

Time Expiry is a term used to describe those in the Armed Services who reach the end of their engagement or commission and then leave.

Other includes outflow from the trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) strength due to, amongst others, medical reasons, misconduct, compassionate, dismissals and death.

VO Rate is the number of personnel voluntarily outflowing as a proportion of the average Trained Strength for the outflow period.

• Outflow from the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 12,950 in the 12 months to 30 September 2020; down from 15,120 in the 12 months to 30 September 2019.

• Across all Services, VO was the most common reason for outflow of Trained and Trade-Trained personnel, accounting for 63.4 per cent of outflow in the 12 months to 30 September 2020 (See Figure 4).

• In the 12 months to 30 September 2020, 6,100 trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) personnel left through VO; the VO rate was 4.7 per cent. The VO Rate for the RN/RM was 4.5 per cent, for the RAF it was 4.2 per cent and for the Army it was 5.1 per cent.

• In the 12 months to 30 September 2020, the VO rate amongst Other Ranks was 5.0 per cent, this is higher than the VO rate for Officers which was 3.8 per cent.

There is no single reason why personnel leave on Voluntary Outflow, but the personnel who completed the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey indicated reasons for leaving the Armed Forces included the impact of Service life on family and personal life and opportunities outside the Armed Forces.

Figure 4: Outflow of trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) UK Regulars by exit reason (12 months to 30 September 2020)

Gains to Trained Strength (GTS) figures comprise all Regular personnel who complete Phase 2 training and those that enter directly into the Phase 2 trained strength. It excludes those returning to the Phase 2 trained strength from Long Term Absence (LTA).

Trained Outflow figures show Phase 2 trained outflow from UK Regular Forces, including personnel leaving the Services, deaths and recalled reservists on release. They do not include promotion from Ranks to Officers or flows between Services.

Gains to Trained Strength and Trained Outflow In the 12 months to 30 September 2020, there was a net gain of trained strength of 1,900 personnel from the UK Regular Forces. This is in contrast to a net loss of 2,900 for the 12 months to 30 September 2019.

• Trained direct entrants in the 12 months to 30 September 2020 was 740. This is an increase of 26.3 per cent from the 12 months to 30 September 2019.
• Personnel completing Phase 2 training in the 12 months to 30 September 2020 was 10,770. This has increased by 22.5 per cent when compared against this period’s equivalent a year ago(8,790).
• Compared to the 12 months to 30 September 2019, Gains to Trained Strength for the RN/RM and RAF decreased by 9.0 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively for the 12 months to 30 September 2020. Gains to Trade Trained strength for Army have increased by 51.2 per cent when compared against the same period.
• Trained outflow from the RN/RM, Army (ie. FTTTS) and RAF in the 12 months ending 30 September 2020, has decreased by 18.3 per cent, 25.8 per cent and 11.3 per cent respectively against the previous 12 months.

Figure 5: GTS and Outflow from the UK Trained Regular Forces 12 month ending across the Armed Forces

Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Programme Monitoring

Future Reserves 2020 includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and those Volunteer Reserves serving on Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Additional Duties Commitment (ADC). Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than Volunteer Reserves are also included in the Army Reserve FR20.

Following consultation on changes to the Army Trained Strength definition and the removal of the FR20 intake targets, the MOD released Future Reserves 2020 Trained Strength growth profiles in a Written Ministerial Statement on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on Trained Strength profiles only.

Future Reserves 2020 Strength

Following this, progress against FR20 population Trained Strength targets are reported in Table 6a of the Excel tables. The total Trained and Untrained Strength of the Tri-Service Future Reserves 2020 at 1 October 2020 was 37,020, an increase of 260 personnel or 0.7 per cent since 1 October 2019.

Maritime Reserve

Figure 6 shows that the Maritime Reserve Trained Strength was 2,870 as at 1 October 2020. This is an increase of 20 personnel (0.7 per cent) since 1 October 2019.

The Maritime Reserve total strength as at 1 October 2020 was 4,000. This is an increase of 100 personnel (2.5 per cent) since 1 October 2019.

Figure 6: Maritime Reserve Trained Strength

Army Reserve

Figure 7 shows that the Army Reserve Trained Strength was 26,950 as at 1 October 2020. This is a decrease of 300 (1.1 per cent) since 1 October 2019.

The Army Reserve total strength as at 1 October 2020 was 29,770. This has remained relatively stable since 1 October 2019.

Figure 7: Army Reserve Trained Strength

RAF Reserve

Figure 8 shows that as at 1 October 2020 the RAF Reserves Trained Strength was 2,850. This is an increase of 190 personnel (7.1 per cent) since 1 October 2019.

The RAF Reserves total strength as at 1 October 2020 was 3,240. This is an increase of 160 personnel (5.1 per cent) since 1 October 2019.

Figure 8: RAF Reserves Trained Strength

FR20 Intake and Outflow statistics

Intake and outflow statistics report how many people have left or joined the Trained or Untrained Strengths. As well as leavers and new recruits, this can include personnel transferring to or from the Regular Forces, other Reserve populations, or Reserve re-joiners.

The total intake rates for each Service in the 12 months to 1 October 2020 are as follows:

• The Maritime Reserve total intake rate was 20.3 per cent; a decrease of 4.9 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 October 2019.
• The Army Reserve total intake rate was 12.3 per cent; a decrease of 1.5 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 October 2019.
• The RAF Reserves total intake rate was 17.2 per cent; a decrease of 4.4 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 October 2019.

Figure 9: Total intake rate by Service

The total outflow rates for each Service in the 12 months to 1 October 2020 are as follows:

• The Maritime Reserve total outflow rate was 17.8 per cent; a decrease of 3.3 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 October 2019.
• The Army Reserve total outflow rate was 12.3 per cent; a decrease of 0.5 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 October 2019.
• The RAF Reserves total outflow rate was 12.3 per cent; a decrease of 5.1 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 October 2019.

Figure 10: Total outflow rate by Service

Figure 11: Intake to and Outflow from the FR20 Reserves over rolling 12-month periods

Separated Service

Separated Service concerns personnel who are serving away from their usual place of duty or are unable to enjoy leisure at their place of duty or residence at place of duty.

Individual Harmony is the freedom to enjoy leisure at the normal place of duty or residence at place of duty; this includes leave and adventurous training.

Separated service measures absence from normal place of duty. The time an individual experiences separated service is compared against each Service’s “Individual Harmony” guidelines to ensure a balance between duty and leisure for all Service personnel.

A breach of individual harmony guidelines occurs when Service personnel experience separated service for longer than the period outlined in individual harmony guidelines, which are based on the structures and organisation of that Service. The guidelines are measured over a 36 month period and the limits are:

• 660 days away for the RN/RM
• 498 days for the Army
• 468 days away for the RAF.

Using 1 April 2020 as an example, the formula for the breach rate is as follows:

1. Count the number of Trained/Trade Trained UK Regular personnel breaching in the 36 months ending to 31 Mar 2020
2. Divide this by the Trained UK Regular strength as at 1 Apr 2020

There is a fall in the percentage breaching harmony this quarter for both Army and RAF. The percentage breaching harmony for RN/RM has increased slightly since the previous quarter.

Separated service data can be found in Table 10 of the accompanying, Excel tables.

Figure 12: Percentage of UK Regular Forces breaching harmony (1 April 2014 - 30 June 2020)

Military Salaries

The Military Salaries indices are based on annual pay rates. All indices are calculated using the number of service personnel at each rank at 1 April 2019. With the introduction of Pay 16, the strength profile no longer matches previous years meaning it is not possible to continue the current index. The index is now split into two due to the new Pay Award: the old index based against salaries in 2001/02 (the year the Pay 2000 system was introduced); and the new index based against salaries in 2016/17 (the year the Pay 16 was introduced).

As can be seen from Table 13 (in the accompanying excel tables), the Military Salaries Index remained the same between 2011/12 and 2012/13 due to the public sector pay freeze. Between 2014/15 and 2017/18 all rates of base pay were uplifted by one per cent each year, as recommended by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB). In 2019/20, the rates of base pay were uplifted by 2.9 percent in line with AFPRB’s recommendation. The latest report from the AFPRB is available here.

Table 6: Military Salaries Growth from 2000/01 to 2019/20

	2001/02	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15		2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19
Military Salaries Index	100.00	132.87	133.03	134.94	136.29		100.00	101.00	103.02	107.3

Figure 13: Real growth of Military Salaries and Average Earnings

1. Real growth in salaries is growth over and above inflation. It represents the increase in purchasing power between one year and the next. For example, if salaries grew by 2%, but prices rose by 1%, real salary growth would be about 1%, because someone earning that salary could purchase around 1% more goods and services. Real pay growth can be negative if inflation is outstripping salary growth, values at 0% indicate an increase in line with inflation. The measure of inflation used here is growth in Retail Price Index (RPI).
2. When calculating the real growth of average earnings the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Average Weekly Earnings index (K45U: whole economy, total pay including bonuses) has been employed. Military salaries do not include bonuses or allowances.

Figure 13 highlights that real growth in military salaries and average earnings growth for the latest point available, 2019/20, was above the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation. In 2019/20 growth of military salaries was larger than real growth of average earnings.

The real growth of military salaries excluding bonuses was 1.5 per cent during 2019/20. Similarly, the real growth in UK average earnings for the economy (total pay including bonuses) experienced a growth rate of 0.6 per cent in 2019/20.

Further Information

Rounding

Figures in this publication have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example; a value of “25” would be rounded down to “20” and a value of “15” would be rounded up to “20”.

Additionally, totals and sub-totals are rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

Percentages are calculated from unrounded data and presented to one decimal place.

The MOD Disclosure Control and Rounding policy is published on GOV.UK and we have applied this policy to the statistics in the accompanying Excel tables. The policy is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-statistics-policies

Revisions

Corrections to the published statistics will be made if errors are found, or if figures change as a result of improvements to methodology or changes to definitions. When making corrections, we will follow the Ministry of Defence Statistics Revisions and Corrections Policy. All corrected figures will be identified by the symbol “r”, and an explanation will be given of the reason for and size of the revision. Corrections which would have a significant impact on the utility of the statistics will be corrected as soon as possible, by reissuing the publication. Minor errors will also be corrected, but for efficient use of resource these corrections may be timed to coincide with the next release of this quarterly publication.

This quarter there has been a step change that has affected the Army personnel Trade Trained strength and the number of Gains to Trade Trained strength. This step change affected (342) of this quarter’s GTTS. This occurred as a result of an administration error. The tables affected are 3a,3c, 5a-5b and 10.

In Table 1 there has been a revision to the number of UK Forces Volunteer Reserves of which are Full Time Reserve Service as at 1 January 2019 due to an inputting error.

In Table 1 and 2c there has been a revision to the number of Royal Air Force personnel as at 1 July 2012 due to data now being available for Volunteer Reserves as at 1 July 2012.

In Table 1 and 8a there have been revisions to the number of UK Forces Volunteer Reserves due to a formula error in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves as at 1 January 2014.

In Table 2b there have been revisions to the number of Army Sponsored Reserves and Volunteer Reserves from 1 April 2012 to 1 July 2014 due to the EFI being erroneously counted as Sponsored Reserves.

In Table 3a there has been a revision to the FTTS figures for Army from 1 October 2018 to 1 October 2019 due to processing errors.

In Table 3b there have been revisions to the number of Full Time Armed Forces personnel of which Full Time Reserve Service as at 1 July 2019 and 1 January 2020 due to an inputting error.

In Table 3b there have been revisions to the number of Full Time Royal Navy/Royal Marines personnel of which Full Time Reserve Service as at 1 April 2012 to 1 April 2015 due to a processing error.

In Table 3e there have been revisions to the number of Untrained Army Regulars as at 1 July 2019 and 1 October 2019 due to processing errors.

In Table 5b there have been revisions to the number of Gains to Trained Strength due to inputting errors.

In Table 5d there have been revisions to the number of Trained Outflow as at 31 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 due to inputting errors.

In Table 8c there have been revisions to the number of Army Volunteer Reserves personnel as at 1 January 2019 to 1 July 2019 due to a formula error.

In Table 8c there has been a revision to the number of Army Volunteer Reserve Officers of which Additional Duties Commitment as at 1 January 2019 due to an inputting error.

Symbols

Symbol	Description
||	discontinuity in time series
*	not applicable
..	not available
-	zero
~	5 or fewer
p	Provisional
e	Estimate
r	Revised

Contact Us

Defence Statistics welcome feedback on our statistical products. If you have any comments or questions about this publication or about our statistics in general, you can contact us as follows:

Responsible statistician: Tri-Service Head of Branch
Email: Analysis-Tri-Service@mod.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 7807 8896

If you require information which is not available within this or other available publications, you may wish to submit a Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to the Ministry of Defence. For more information, see: https://www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-information-request/the-freedom-of-information-act

Other contact points within Defence Statistics are listed below.

Defence Expenditure Analysis:

Email: DefStrat-Econ-ESES-PQFOI@mod.gov.uk
Telephone: 030 6793 4531

Naval Service Workforce:

Email: Analysis-Navy@mod.gov.uk
Telephone: 023 9262 8738

Army Workforce:

Email: defstrat-stat-army-enquiries@mod.uk
Telephone: 01264 886021

RAF Workforce:

Email: Analysis-Air@mod.uk
Telephone: 01494 496822

Tri-service Workforce:

Email: Analysis-Tri-Service@mod.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 7807 8896

Civilian Workforce:

Email: defstrat-stat-civenquiries@mod.gov.uk
Telephone: 030 6798 4423

Health Information: Email: defstrat-stat-health-pq-foi@mod.gov.uk
Telephone: 030 6798 4423

Please note that these email addresses may change later in the year.

If you wish to correspond by mail, our postal address is:

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