HC Deb 25 July 1978 vol 954 cc1355-6
18. Mr. Dudley Smith

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he accepts the recommendation in the report of the Advisory Committee on the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve that the Service should revert to the old name of Territorial Army; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Robert C. Brown

A number of recommendations affecting the TAVR are under consideration following receipt of the Shapland report on TAVR manpower wastage. As I informed the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (Mr. Wiggin) on 5th July—[Vol. 953, c. 218]—I shall announce the Government's decisions in due course.

Mr. Smith

Does the Minister agree that it is imperative that we have a credible reserve force, and does he not think that there is great merit now in calling that reserve force the Territorial Army, thus trying to recapture some of the Service's fine old glory and efficiency?

Mr. Brown

I agree most heartily with the introduction to the hon. Member's supplementary question. The old TA did a superb job, and I believe that the TAVR is doing a superb job now. The question of the name change, of course, is simply one of a number of recommendations. I think that the hon. Gentleman would agree with me that on a report of this nature—it is a highly complex report with a number of recommendations needing intense study—it would be wrong to single out one recommendation without giving the whole report the consideration it deserves.