On a per pound basis this is bad idea albeit with good intentions. The answer is definitely not to create more management duplication and more smaller forces, that is the biggest problem at the moment! Reform of what the budget is spent on can be done within the current structure, and without a concurrent restructuring to manage it would have a much greater chance of success. Training the TA for civil contingencies would be an excellent idea and one I’ve been a supporter of for quite a while but I suspect the problem would be getting them enough training to be really useful would be rather expensive. Of course we could train them to drive trucks to deliver things to affected areas, but then a civilian trucker could probably do it better. Training them for medical assistance, search and rescue, firefighting or anything like that is going to need some serious money. Army units whose main role is civil disturbances creates what is effectively a Gendarmerie, and policing is done by consent in this country not by the barrel of a gun.