Background
The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review identified a need for the government to reduce defence spending and increase the flexibility of the armed forces to respond better to an increasingly uncertain environment. The Ministry of Defence asked the Army to develop a plan for a force of 82,500 trained regular soldiers, and 30,000 trained reserve soldiers by 2018. The MoD projected that this revised force size would help the Army save £10.6 billion over the 10 years from 2011-13 to 2021-22. The Army decided to restructure itself into a fully integrated Army of regulars and reserves, known as ‘Army 2020’. The Army needs to reduce regular soldier numbers by around 20,000 and increase reserve soldier numbers by around 11,000, working with its recruitment partner, Capita, to recruit enough suitable personnel. The transition to Army 2020 will involve coordination of several activities through to 2020 and beyond, to ensure that the new Army structure operates as planned. This inquiry will be an examination of the development of Army 2020 and the Army’s progress in implementing it.
Relevant information