Results 181–200 of 3000 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Julian Brazier

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Reserve Recruitment (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: The size of the volunteer reserves, including the then Territorial Army, halved under the last Government, and we inherited a structure that had lost most of its officers and was falling apart. The size of the Regular Army was reduced because of cash constraints that arose from an economic crisis we inherited. Our plans to expand the reserves are not designed as a direct substitute for...

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Reserve Recruitment (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I think the hon. Gentleman wrote that question before he heard my earlier answer. His premise is that reserve recruiting is falling, but reserve recruiting increased in the last six months by 61% compared with the equivalent period last year. We are confident that it will go on increasing, so the premise of the hon. Gentleman’s question is, I am afraid, wrong.

Isil: Army Reserve (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: Being a reservist is a great way to experience adventure with new comrades, develop leadership qualities, learn new skills and get paid up to £3,000 in the first year, while maintaining a civilian life and day job. Funding of nearly £2 million has been delegated to fund regional and unit initiatives, as we believe that it is from the unit level that the greatest impetus for recruiting...

Isil: Army Reserve (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: The short answer is that we have a very considerable advertising programme and a programme of engagement with employers—from the civil service down to small businesses and the special measures for them that I mentioned. The best advocates of all are serving reservists themselves, who need to go out and talk about the new opportunities. Examples include the platoon from my own constituency...

Isil: Army Reserve (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I in fact served in the unit to which my hon. Friend refers when it was 4th Green Jackets. The £500 a month on deployment available to small businesses is over and above the full compensation package available to all employers when soldiers are away on operations. It is estimated that the training experience gained from an average period of mobilisation is worth up to £8,000 for a private,...

Isil: Army Reserve (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: The hon. Gentleman is quite right to say that there was a very considerable glitch in the pipeline, but we have taken a number of steps to solve it. People can now be enlisted even if their medical documents have not caught up with them, and they can be enlisted pending their security checks once they have done the initial interview. We have also very considerably increased the capacity at...

Isil: Army Reserve (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: The outline of the plan came from the original “Future Reserves 2020” review, which was chaired by the current Chief of the Defence Staff. The early blueprint was put together by General Sir Nick Carter, the Chief of the General Staff. The hon. Gentleman is partly right: there were some mistakes in the early stages relating to the way in which the recruiting pipeline was organised. Since...

Isil: Topical Questions (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I am grateful to my hon. and gallant Friend for his question. On his premise, I remind him that over the past six months numbers have been moving firmly in the right direction as a result of the upturn in recruiting. On his question about age, I make no apology for a reserve force recruiting some older people, especially ex-regulars, who bring much experience. Fitness is a major requirement...

Isil: Topical Questions (24 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I shall have to write to my hon. Friend in order to give him a full answer.

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I am most grateful to my hon. and gallant Friend for the opportunity to make this statement. Future Force 2020 represents one of the fundamental steps this Government have taken to ensure that our defence is delivered on a sustainable financial basis. The Government have ensured that the armed forces, both regular and reserve, are structured and resourced to meet the challenges of the 21st...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I am grateful to my hon. and gallant Friend for his thoughts. Let us be clear on the numbers. The Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the Army, said to the Defence Committee on 5 November: “Already, at the six-month point, we have got to 2,100”— he was talking about new recruits to the reserves— “and it is my sense that we will increase the numbers beyond the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I think that the hon. Gentleman had drafted his points before he heard my answer to my hon. and gallant Friend, so I will not repeat the same points about the changes in the system that are just coming through now and are evident in the latest quarter. Let me deal with the hon. Gentleman’s more substantive questions. The message coming from the Chief of the General Staff has been cleared...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I am grateful to my hon. Friend, but I am not quite certain what he is proposing. We are planning for an Army of 82,000 regulars, and 30,000 reservists integrated with them—in other words, available as formed sub-units or individuals to supplement the regulars outside periods of great national emergency, and to be called up in much larger numbers during periods of great national emergency....

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I have the greatest respect for the right hon. Gentleman. I am glad that he, too, buys into the principle of the plan. We are committed to the same targets. He will see that as the measures that we have taken to unblock the recruiting system feed through into the numbers—let us remember that we are looking at 12-month rolling data, and that will take time—we will achieve these targets. We...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I am grateful to my hon. and gallant Friend. He says that the policy should have been tested; the recommendations came out of an inquiry chaired by the Chief of the Defence Staff. They have been strongly and publicly supported by the Chief of the General Staff, both publicly in front of the Select Committee on Defence and privately in front of the all-party group, of which my hon. Friend is a...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I have the greatest admiration for the hon. Lady. I sat next to her on the Defence Committee for four years, but she really has missed the point on this. Nobody has rebuked the CGS. The CGS designed the detail for this plan in his last job but one. The hon. Lady misunderstands the difference between opportunities for regular use of reserves, of which I have just given three examples, and...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is a 60% increase over six months, and as the bulk of that occurred during the most recent quarter, it is almost a doubling in that period. He is absolutely right. It is a tremendous turnaround after years of decline under the previous Government.

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: Will the hon. Gentleman, for whom I have the greatest respect, write to me so that I can look into that individual case? We have had a number of delays in the system. We are sorting those out, and the process is now working much faster for both regulars and reservists, but I would be grateful for a letter.

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: Over a decade or so, 25,000 reservists were called out of what was then a falling institution. I have given my hon. and gallant Friend some examples of the things we are calling reservists out for now—on intelligent mobilisation, not compulsorily, for Afghanistan, for Cyprus, and for interesting exercises all over the world, such as the British Army Training Unit Suffield in Canada and live...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Reserve Recruitment (17 Nov 2014)

Julian Brazier: I will have to write to the hon. Gentleman to give him a total figure. I do not recognise the figure he quotes, but I will write to him. Most of the Capita programme is directed towards the regular forces. It has had some difficulties, some around software, which has been a feature of Governments of all complexions. It is in the process of a considerable set of improvements, most of which are...


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