Army chiefs slammed over recruitment crisis as record 100,000 apply — but numbers shrink as red tape ‘bogs them down’
Army is currently 4,000 short of the 82,000 troops it is meant to have and faces scandal as record numbers apply
THE Army is being crippled by a manpower shortage — despite a record number of would-be recruits attempting to join.
More than 100,000 tried to sign up last year but only 7,500 became soldiers — with thousands dropping out in frustration after getting bogged down in months of red-tape delays.
Sources say the blockage comes from a “disastrous” decision to outsource recruiting to private firm Capita, and leaves the Army more than 4,000 short of the 82,000 troops it is meant to have.
One said: “The numbers are staggering.”
SAS veteran Andy McNab said the Army’s failure to sign up enough new soldiers despite record numbers of wannabe recruits was “absolute madness”.
Thousands of those who dropped out did so in frustration at red tape and delays — with it taking an average of 300 days from first contacting the Army to finally becoming a soldier.
Sun Security Adviser Andy said the overly bureaucratic system introduced after recruitment was outsourced to private firm Capita is to blame. He added: “How you can go from over 100,000 trying to join to less than 8,000 signing up defies belief.
“It’s because the Army and Capita have turned recruitment into a faceless, bureaucratic nightmare.”
It has left the Army, already pared to the bone by defence cuts, with a manpower crisis.
It needs to recruit 10,000 a year to balance those leaving.
Andy said: “The Army is in a crisis — and it’s not because no one wants in.”
Business experts Capita were hired in 2012 to run recruitment for the Ministry of Defence in a £1.3billion deal.
It set about “modernising” the system — with online recruitment and call centres replacing the tradition of having serving officers in high street recruitment offices.
The latest recruitment advertising campaign, designed to attract more women and ethnic minority candidates, was also criticised for being “too politically correct.”
But the Army’s ads have been an undoubted success. In the 12 months to the end of March 2016, 58,000 tried to join up. Up to March 2017 it was at 100,560.
But while the adverts have worked, the recruitment system changes have backfired.
Insiders say the average 300-day wait between first approaching the Army and finally becoming a soldier is far too long.
Some of that is down to medical and security checks. But, they say, there is also excessive red tape — and the long delays end up putting off would-be recruits.
Former Army chief General Lord Richard Dannatt said the recruitment changes had been an abject failure.
He said: “I’ve heard of a number of people who have been trying to join the Armed Forces and got fed up at the length of time it takes. The system is too complicated, the Army knows the previous system was better and would like to go back to it.
“The reason why it’s not being done is because it’s too expensive.
“The Army at 82,000 has never been smaller since modern records have been kept.
“At 78,000 we’ve hugely undershot the current level — which itself is too small. Ten years ago it was 102,000.”
Slash wait to three months
IRAQ veteran Major General Tim Cross said the Army must set a three-month limit on getting recruits in the ranks.
He added: “The MoD and Capita both recognise this system has not been working. It’s taken them a long time to really acknowledge that and stop pretending it would be OK. Face-to-face dialogue with young soldiers and potential young recruits is crucial.
“To have a target of around three or four months seems pretty sensible.
“Certainly it needs to be a lot less than the 300 days it currently is. You can’t afford to let these people slip through your fingers.”
MP Johhny Mercer, an ex-Army officer, said: “The offer the military gives is as appealing now as it has ever been and that is borne out by the figures. But something is going wrong between the offer the Army gives and people doing their first day’s service.
“The Army shouldn’t be undermanned when you see the numbers trying to join. It also seems to be a colossal waste of money.”
Army insiders said an overhaul of recruitment is now looming. The call centre and online applications system will remain but a new initiative to put soldiers back in recruiting offices is pending.
A source said: “The ad campaigns have been more successful than anyone could have hoped.
“But we’re not getting the end product, we’re not getting soldiers in the ranks. You can blame Capita but this is still a partnership with the Army.
“The key thing is people are aware and are doing something to remedy this. It will get fixed.”
Every year about a third of Army applicants are turned away for being too old, too unfit or failing educational standards.
But just 8,600 were signed up in the 12 months to March 2016. In that period 10,626 left — leaving a shortfall of around 2,000.
In the 12 months to last September 101,854 tried to join but only 7,441 were successful. In the same period 9,718 left — another year-on-year shortfall.
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