To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of soldiers who enlisted under the age of 18 were enlisted into pinch-point trades in each of the last five years.
Answered on
28 June 2018
The Ministry of Defence does not publish the names or specific details of Operational Pinch Points (OPPs) as this information would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces. However, I can assure the hon. Member that the Army has enough people to perform its operational requirements that help keep Britain safe.
The minimum enlistment age for Soldiers into all Army Capbadges is 16, and it may be of interest to the hon. Member that of the current seven Army (OPPs) only one can be enlisted into. Pinch points may be rank or qualification specific and information is not held in the format requested to allow a more detailed response.
The minimum enlistment age for soldiers into the Army is 16. We do not hold information about enlistment into OPPs in the specific format requested. However, of the current seven Army OPPs only one can be directly enlisted into because pinch points can be rank or qualification specific and therefore it is not always possible to enlist directly into them.