Written questions

Armed Forces: Pay

Commons · Question 119574 · Tabled 10 Mar 2026 · Ministry of Defence · Official record

Answered 18 Mar 2026

Question

Asked by Luke Akehurst

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the retention payment introduced by the armed forces to private soldiers and lance corporals in 2025 on recruitment and retention of personnel.

Answer

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones, 18 Mar 2026

The Army forecasts the impact to be in the region of 290 retentions to date. While there is no way to isolate the impact of this specific initiative from wider retention efforts, in seeking approval for this initiative, an assessment was made that c300 se...