UK MoD cost-cutting plans not effective: Report
Iran Press TV
Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:34AM GMT
A new report has found that plans by Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) to cut army expenses by expanding reservist troops in place of regular soldiers are ineffective and costly.
Research by Conservative MP John Baron found that reservists cost the British Treasury twice as much to deploy as regular soldiers because the costs of training part-time soldiers greatly increases when training for battle-readiness is considered.
Based on the findings by the study, the deployment of a reservist would cost £2,910 a week over a 10-year period while deployment of a regular soldier costs only £1,258.
The MoD has previously estimated that deployment of reservists would total no more than 3,000 a year. Baron, however, said the figure is much lower than the actual figures.
"The MoD's figure of 3,000 annual deployments is very low. False economies loom," he said.
"And this is before we consider the widening capability gap as reservist recruitment targets keep being badly missed and the regulars are axed," he added.
Earlier last month, former head of Britain's armed forces Lord Bramall warned that plans to cut the ranks in British army should be postponed until more reservists are recruited.
Lord Bramall expressed concerns over the plans to run down the front-line troops, saying the MoD might fail to recruit enough reservists to conduct future operations.
Under the British government's plans, the regular army is to endure a 20,000 cut from its current number of 102,000 troops by 2020 while the Reserve Force is planned to be expanded from 19,000 to 30,000 by 2018.
The British government won a House of Commons vote on the plans last week.
A group of British MPs, however, called for a pause in the plans, saying lawmakers should have been given the opportunity to assess their viability and cost-effectiveness.
MOS/NN
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