Army reserve row: Minister seeks to head off rebellion 20 November 2013 Last updated at 15:42 The government has agreed to update MPs every year on the strength of the military reserves in an effort to head off a Commons rebellion over the issue. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the law would be changed to require an annual review to be made to Parliament. The concession comes as MPs raised concerns that targets to recruit 10,000 Army Reserve recruits will not be met. Ministers say they want to put reservists "centre stage" as the regular army reduces in size by 20,000. But some Conservative MPs are worried there will not be enough reservists to fill the gaps left by substantial cuts in regular army units - due to come in by 2020 - and want the government to publish up-to-date reservist recruitment numbers. Up to 20 Tory MPs, led by former soldier John Baron, have backed calls to delay plans to boost the size of the Army Reserve, formerly known as the Territorial Army, to 30,000 from 19,000 now. But ahead of a vote later on Mr Baron's amendment to the Defence Reform Bill - in which a substantial rebellion was expected - Mr Hammond said The Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations would provide annual information to Parliament on recruitment and retention in the reserves. He told MPs that "on reflection we consider that is a sensible idea and will strengthen the programme for the growth and reinvigoration of our reserves." The BBC's political correspondent Ross Hawkins said the government would bring forward its own amendment to the bill in the House of Lords - similar to one proposed by Tory MP Julian Brazier on Wednesday - to legislate for this but that this would not necessarily guarantee an annual debate on the report. Mr Hammond has written to Tory MPs urging them not to back Mr Baron's amendment - forcing ministers to assess the "viability and cost-effectiveness" of the proposals and delay any reforms until the report had been supported by both MPs and peers - would be damaging to the armed forces if passed. Earlier, he told the BBC the cuts to the regular forces could not be reversed and any delays to the Army Reserve recruitment process could cause chaos. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The Army has set out a course. It is executing its plan. To halt that or to seek to reverse it at this stage would simply cause confusion in the ranks.