Nautilus has raised concerns over new figures showing a 4% fall in the number of UK officer trainees over the past year.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson commented: 'We are disappointed to see the continued decline in officer numbers – even if it has slowed a bit – and very disturbed by the 4% decline in cadet numbers. Given the scale of the demographic trends within the UK officer population and the large numbers due to retire in the next few years, these numbers need to be much higher.'