§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any proposals for increasing the size of the Army.
§ Mr. Mulley,pursuant to the reply [Official Report, 24th January 1978; Vol. 942, c. 583], gave the following information:
The manpower level decided in the 1974 defence review, which the Army planned to reach by 1979, will be raised by 1,900 men, from 164,400 to 166,300. These men will be retained to compensate for the effects of continuing emergency commitments, especially in Northern Ireland. This will make it possible to provide personnel to fill command and administrative posts in Northern Ireland without depleting the rest of the Army; and to form an additional battalion drawn from the infantry as a whole which will take over a training role in Great Britain. As a result the number of units available to undertake emergency unaccompanied tours will be increased and the training and operational readiness of NATO-assigned units will be improved.