Armed Forces need thousands of new troops as the UK risks losing battle on crippling skills shortage in the military
The Ministry of Defence needs a new plan to fill a skills shortage in the Armed Forces, a new report has warned
A NEW battle plan is needed to combat a crippling skills shortage in the military, MPs warn in a report.
Our armed forces are 8,200 personnel under strength while critical posts remain unfilled.
There is a 23 per cent shortfall in pilots, a 26 per cent shortfall in intelligence analyst trades and a 17 per cent shortfall in engineers.
And the problem is unlikely to be resolved in the next four years.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee says it is harming morale and wants a new approach.
Chair Meg Hillier said: “The Government’s ‘make do and mend’ approach to staffing its defence commitments cannot continue.
“Muddling through is unsustainable. A creative workforce strategy will be vital if the stresses of today are not to become the crises of tomorrow.”
Because of the way the MoD’s accounts are managed, the Army, Royal Navy and RAF still receive the money for posts, even though they are vacant. This money – around £261m last year – has been spent elsewhere in the budget to plug gaps, but the PAC do not know where.
The report accuses the MoD of not developing a “coherent” plan for closing the skills gap and securing new recruits.
They blasted changes to the way the Armed Forces recruit as “small scale” and “piecemeal” while improvements to terms and conditions have not stopped people leaving the services, it said.
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Williamson now needs to develop a new strategy to fix the mess, the PAC report said.
An MoD Spokesperson said: “Recruiting and retaining talent is one of our top priorities and we have a range of schemes, including retention pay for and direct entry into specialist trades and flexible working to make sure we attract and keep the skilled personnel we need.
“The military has enough personnel to meet all its operational requirements, including being active on 25 operations in 30 countries throughout the world. In the past year we have recruited over 13,000 people into the Armed Forces.”
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