§ 13. Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow) (Lab)What assessment he has made of the effect on retention of service personnel of the recruitment of British soldiers by security firms in Iraq. [156741]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence(Mr. Adam Ingram)We are not able to assess the effect that the potential recruitment of soldiers by security firms in Iraq will have on retention, because soldiers are not required to provide details of their future employment when they leave the Army. However, serving personnel are normally required to give 12 months' notice of their intention to leave, so we are not expecting such recruitment to have had a significant impact.
§ Mr. DalyellAs it is the considered view of Correlli Barnett, writing in The Spectator this week, and that of many other thoughtful military commentators, that British troops will be stuck in Iraq for years to come, should not some thought be given to the problem of the haemorrhaging of highly skilled trained personnel to the infinitely more lucrative jobs that security firms are offering?
§ Mr. IngramThe reality is somewhat different from what my hon. Friend is trying to present. The current recruitment and retention measures that we have introduced for the regular Army are starting to turn the 15-year downward trend round, and on 1 January this year the whole Army strength stood at 103,840, an increase of about 2,000 personnel in the last 12 months. That seems to contradict those who talk about a haemorrhage out of the armed forces; on current trends, the very reverse seems to be happening.