Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Goldie on 23 March (HL Deb, col 811), whether the review of reserves by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton will cover the provision of soldiers for 'Military Aid to the Civil Power', including (1) resilience, and (2) disaster relief, following the recent cut in the size of the armed forces.
Answer
The Reserve Forces 2030 (RF30) review was initiated by the Chief of the Defence Staff in February 2020. Lord Lancaster was invited to prepare an independent report on the reserve forces and how their likely future employment will contribute to defence and wider Government out to 2030.
The RF30 review has yet to be published, but is a welcome and thorough review of reserves’ contribution to the Armed Forces including resilience. The MOD will carefully consider all of the review’s recommendations and report back to Parliament in due course.