HC Deb 14 June 1991 vol 192 cc730-3W
Mr. O'Neill

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide the latest available figures on the total numbers of regular service personnel in each of the different ranks of the British Army.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The latest available figures, as at 31 March 1991, for the strength of the regular Army by rank are set out in the table.

Army
Ranks strengths
Number
Officers
Lieutenant General and above 20
Major General 62
Brigadier 240
Colonel 649
Lieutenant Colonel 1,949
Major 5,330
Captain 5,220
Subalterns1 3,410
Officer Designate 629
Total Officers 17,509
Soldiers
Warrant Officer I 2,272
Warrant Officer II 5,963
Staff Sergeant 7,970
Sergeant 14,750
Corporal 22,588
Lance Corporal 23,120
Private1 48,463
Junior Soldiers 5,004
Total Soldiers 130,130
TOTAL OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS 147,639
1 Includes basic trainees; excludes Brigade of Gurkhas.

Mr. O'Neill

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the average rate of recruitment and outflow in(a) the armoured regiments and (b) the infantry regiments in the last 10 years.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The average rate of recruitment and outflow is set out in the table:

Officers
Recruits Outflow
Average per year Rate Average per year Rate
Household Cavalry 13 9.1 15 10.5
Royal Armoured Corps 80 7.1 99 8.7
Infantry 202 6.3 251 7.8

1. Rate is per 100 trained officers.

2. Infantry figures exclude Parachute Regiment.

3. Excludes intakes from other ranks.

Soldiers
Recruits Outflow
Average per year Rate Average per year Rate
Household Cavalry 174 11.7 212 14.2
Royal Armoured Corps 961 11.1 1,034 11.9
Infantry 5,447 15.2 6,136 17.1

1. Recruits exclude rejoined reservists.

2. Rate is per 100 soldiers and juniors.

3. Infantry figures exclude Parachute Regiment.

Mr. O'Neill

To ask the Secretary of State for defence what has been the average rate of recruitment and outflow in(a) the Household Cavalry, (b) the Royal Armoured Corps, (c) the Guards Division, (d) the Scottish Division,

Officers
Recruits Outflow
Average per year Rate Average per year Rate
Household Cavalry 13 9.1 15 10.5
Royal Armoured Corps 80 7.1 99 8.7
Guards Division 34 7.2 45 9.6
Scottish Division 29 6.1 34 7.1
Queen's Division 38 6.1 52 8.3
King's Division 34 5.8 40 6.8
Prince of Wales's Division 42 6.4 44 6.8
Light Division 25 6.1 36 8.7

1. Rate is per 100 trained officers.

2. Excludes intakes from other ranks.

Soldiers
Recruits Outflow
Average per year Rate Average per year Rate
Household Cavalry 174 11.7 212 14.2
Royal Armoured Corps 961 11.1 1,034 11.9
Guards Division 991 16.0 1,095 17.6
Scottish Division 724 13.4 803 14.9
Queen's Division 1,112 16.6 1,281 19.1
King's Division 915 14.9 1,020 16.7
Prince of Wales's Division 999 14.7 1,123 16.5
Light Division 706 15.2 814 17.6

1. Recruits exclude rejoined reservists.

2. Rate is per 100 soldiers and juniors.

Mr. O'Neill

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide the latest available figures on the total numbers of regular service personnel in each of the different ranks in(a) the Household Cavalry, (b) the Royal Armoured Corps, (c) the Guards Division, (d) the (e) the Queen's Division, (f) the King's Division, (g) the Prince of Wales's Division and (h) the Light Division in the last 10 years.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The average rate of recruitment and outflow is set out in the table:

Scottish Division, (e) the Queen's Division, (f) the King's Division, (g) the Prince of Wales's Division and (h) the Light Division.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The latest available figures, as at 31 March 1991, for the strength of the regular Army by rank in each of the divisions are set out in the table:

Ranks strengths
Household Cavalry RAC Guards Scots Queens Kings PoW Light
Officers
Lieutenant General and above 4 1 3 1 2 4
Major General 1 6 7 3 2 4 2 3
Brigadier 4 22 9 9 9 7 11 12
Colonel 6 42 18 12 30 23 23 16
Lieutenant Colonel 10 125 55 60 74 69 78 53
Major 32 328 114 151 197 189 215 121
Captain 50 322 163 140 173 187 193 114
Subalterns1 63 355 147 141 157 156 178 107
Total Officers 166 1,204 514 519 642 636 702 430
Soldiers
Warrant Officer I 9 80 43 40 41 42 48 29
Warrant Officer II 37 275 185 152 198 185 194 142
Staff Sergeant 46 341 242 197 255 238 256 179
Sergeant 123 813 461 393 493 429 500 361
Corporal 197 1,502 808 693 863 806 862 604
Lance Corporal 185 1,502 901 751 929 877 954 618
Private1 631 3,459 2,695 2,522 2,548 2,750 3,011 1,823
Junior Soldiers 54 200 234 197 227 216 203 159
Total Soldiers 1,282 8,172 5,569 4,945 5,554 5,543 6,028 3,915
Total Officers and Soldiers 1,448 9,376 6,083 5,464 6,196 6,179 6,730 4,345
1 Includes basic trainees
2 Staff Officers shown in late arm corps.

Mr. O'Neill

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will provide the latest available figures on the average rate of recruitment and outflow over the last 10 years, giving details for each individual infantry, armoured, artillery and engineer regiment named in the Army list;

(2) if he will provide the currently available figures on the total numbers of regular service personnel in each of the different ranks, giving details for each individual infantry, armoured, artillery and engineer regiment named in the Army list.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to the hon. Member.