§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have left each of the armed services in each year since 1987; how many of them have been entitled to assistance with resettlement; and what information he has on the employment experiences of ex-members of Her Majesty's forces after they leave the service.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonI refer the hon. Lady to table 4.17 of the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1991.
Eligibility for resettlement training is determined primarily by length of service and the circumstances of discharge. About half those who leave the services each year are eligible for the 28 days pre-release vocational training.
A survey of the resettlement of ex-service personnel commissioned by the Ministry of Defence earlier this year revealed that more than a third of respondents were unemployed immediately after leaving the services; of these, more than half gained employment within three months. A fifth have had other periods of unemployment since leaving.
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Financial years 1 April—31 December 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1989 1990 Officers 55 46 49 48 43 36 34 Servicewomen 504 578 572 540 612 449 476 Royal Marines 1,088 1,068 1,007 1,095 1,242 905 1,026 Male 1,088 1,068 1,007 1,095 1,242 905 1,026 Officers 68 46 44 50 61 54 50 Servicemen 1,020 1,022 963 1,045 1,181 851 976 Army 21,301 21,761 22,749 24,056 25,061 18,917 17,875 Male 19,999 20,473 21,393 22,834 23,778 17,979 16,927 Officers 1,790 1,654 1,651 1,549 1,809 1,438 1,322 Servicemen 18,209 18,819 19,742 21,285 21,969 16,541 15,605 Female 1,302 1,288 1,356 1,222 1,283 938 948 Officers 195 167 161 138 152 114 123 Servicewomen 1,107 1,121 1,195 1,084 1,131 824 825 Royal Air Force 7,217 7,213 6,958 8,157 9,472 7,214 6,217 Male 6,438 6,358 6,051 7,245 8,328 6,361 5,372 Officers 882 938 1,008 1,117 1,062 835 718 Servicemen 5,556 5,420 5,043 6,128 7,266 5,526 4,654 Female 779 855 907 912 1,144 853 845 Officers 101 121 118 149 136 101 91 Servicewomen 678 734 789 763 1,008 752 754 1 Comprises all those who left the regular forces and includes deaths.