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Ministry of Defence: Redundancy

Asked by Ben Obese-JectyConservativeMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 13 February 2026UIN 111268

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants have left the Ministry of Defence via the targeted voluntary exit scheme since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones

Since 5 July 2024, the Ministry of Defence has instigated one targeted voluntary exit scheme; this was launched on 6 Jan 2026. This scheme is Department-wide but targeted at certain professional cohorts and forms part of our response to workforce planning objectives set out in the Strategic Defence Review. This scheme is ongoing and the number of exits will not be known until later in the year. Since 5 July 2024, there have been 39 voluntary exits which can be attributed to localised workforce change activities and not via a targeted scheme such as that currently in operation.

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