Reserves in the Future Force 2020: Valuable and Valued

Abstract: This White Paper details the role of the UK's Future Reserve Forces and explores how plans will accommodate the need for change within the Reserve Forces, outlining what will need to be done to facilitate these changes. Reserve Forces make an essential contribution to delivering the nation’s security, a contribution which is growing proportionately as we restructure our Armed Forces to meet the security challenges of the future. That is why we are revitalising our Reserve Forces, reversing the decline of the recent past, growing their trained strength and investing an additional £1.8 billion in them over ten years. We are fully committed in Defence and across Government to making these changes, which are necessary and are right for the country. These changes are substantial. They will require a shift in the way we think of Reserve Forces in both the country and in the Armed Forces themselves and how we support them. They will take time to deliver fully. But they are eminently achievable. In November 2012 I published a Green Paper, Future Reserves 2020: Delivering the Nation’s Security Together. I am grateful for the more than 3,000 responses we received and for those who supported the many consultation events. The exercise has been invaluable, starting a wider debate, particularly amongst employers, enabling us to develop the approach I am now setting out. Above all, the consultation started a dialogue with reservists, employers and the nation as a whole. This is a dialogue we intend to maintain as we build the new relationships we need.