§ Mr. GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements he has made for replacement of missing or inadequate items of home retention scale of kit, as presented by Royal Fleet reservists, consequent on the abolition of the annual reporting bounty.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonWhen the annual reporting grant was withdrawn with effect from 1 November 1991, kit replacement was suspended. In the event of call up any replacement kit will be issued to reservists at their mobilisation centres.
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§ Mr. GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he introduced the system of annual reporting for(a) Royal Fleet reservists and (b) army reservists; what bounty has been payable in each case, and for how long; and what is the purpose of (i) annual reporting and (ii) the bounty payable.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonAnnual reporting was introduced for Royal Fleet reservists in 1986 and for Army reservists in 1981. Since 1986, those reservists serving in their first year of the Royal Fleet Reserve (Special Category) received a payment of £100 before tax for attending the Reservist reporting unit. Those serving in the second and third year of the Royal Fleet Reserve (Ordinary Category) received a payment of £80 before tax. Since 1981 all Army reservists who took part in the annual reporting exercise (ARCEX) received a payment of £100 before tax although ARCEX is currently suspended. The purpose of annual reporting is to ensure that health, kit and personal details of each reservist could be properly checked and updated so that reservists can be mobilised quickly and effectively when required. The purpose of the payment of the annual reporting grant was to (i) compensate those reservists who(a) had to take time off work without pay to report and (b) needed to purchase replacement kit; and (ii) provide an incentive for reservists to report to ensure that the purpose of annual reporting described above was achieved.
§ Mr. GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of Royal Fleet reservists attended their annual reporting centre in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what proportion of annual reporting bounties payable have been withheld to cover the cost of replacement kit; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe proportion of Royal Fleet reservists who reported to the reservist reporting unit in each of the last five years was as follows:
Year Percent 1987 85.2 1988 85.5 1989 83.2 1990 85.3 1991 80.5 Approximately 1 per cent. of the annual reporting grant was withheld to cover kit replacement costs, over the last five years.
§ Mr. GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when and for what reason he decided to cease payment of the annual reporting credit to Royal Fleet reservists; what was the total of Royal Fleet reserve annual reporting grant in the last year for which figures are available; and what effect he expects it to have on attendance of Royal Fleet reservists at annual reporting centres.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe annual reporting grant was withdrawn with effect from 1 November 1991. The total of the annual reporting grant paid out to the Royal Fleet Reserve in financial year 1990–91 was £474,804.58 after tax and after abatements for replacement items of kit. Since the annual reporting grant was withdrawn attendance of Royal Fleet reservists reporting to the reservist reporting unit has fallen.