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Defence Equipment & Support: Staff

Question for Ministry of Defence

UIN 17716, tabled on 8 March 2024

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) permanent and (b) contracted staff there were in Defence Equipment and Support in each year since 2019.

Answered on

13 March 2024

The average number of full-time equivalent posts filled in each financial year since 2018-19 is:

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

Permanent

10,149

10,263

10,348

10,272

10,258

Contingent Labour

211

643

699

657

971

Contingent Labour encompasses individuals temporarily employed, through a variety of schemes, to deliver activity which might otherwise be carried out by permanent DE&S staff. This may be for a number of reasons, for example due to a lack of required skills in the existing workforce, or because the need itself is temporary.

Figures for 2023-24 are not available at this time.

A record of the number of staff who deliver outputs for Defence Equipment & Support through a private sector support contract is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Named day
Named day questions only occur in the House of Commons. The MP tabling the question specifies the date on which they should receive an answer. MPs may not table more than five named day questions on a single day.