Health of Army Reserve is poor and in decline, report by retired general concludes

An independent review has highlighted the decline of the Army Reserve, which was described as “hollowed out” compared to the regular Armed Forces.

An inquiry led by retired Major General Simon Lalor found that the total strength of the reserves stood at 32,490 in April, showing a dip of 1,340 compared with 2023 and almost 5,000 fewer personnel than in 2021.

It also found that some personnel were earning less than others in the service industry.

Maj Gen Lalor attributed some of the issues to the “ongoing failings of the recruitment system” which is currently being run for the British Army by Capita.

In his foreword to the report, Maj Gen Lalor said: “The reserve in part has become hollowed out just as much as the regular component is now described.”

The report went on to say that the Army Reserve “lacks a clear and resourced sense of purpose”, describing its recruitment system as “unfit for purpose” and lacking the numbers to reinforce regular units for warfighting duties.

“Our assessment in 2024 is that the health of the reserve has not improved; it is still poor, and worse, and continues to decline,” it said.

“Two years after the invasion of Ukraine, the Army has no coherent plan for how to deliver mass nor prepare for a longer-term conflict.”

The review came following a warning from Veterans Minister Al Carns that the British Army would be destroyed within a year if a large-scale conflict erupted.

In September this year, Brigadier Lisa Brooks, the new commander of the British Army’s 19th Light Brigade, told BFBS Forces News the Army Reserve must increase its lethality within the next three years.

Recruitment was a particular issue highlighted in Maj Gen Lalor’s report, which found that only seven out of every 100 applicants to the Army reserve ended up joining, with many dropping out of the process because of “drift”, and called for “radical action” to improve recruitment.

Criticism of recruitment for the British Army under Capita led to the military’s recruitment contract being described as “badly drawn up and overcomplicated” in 2019.

The Army Reserve’s total strength stands at 29,570 – well below the 35,060 figure recommended by an independent commission in 2012, a decade before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Future Soldier programme envisions an Army Reserve 30,000 strong, but its current trained strength is just 24,070.