§ Mrs. GilroyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on administrative support to the Territorial Army following the recent reforms. [89847]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonFollowing the announcement made by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence on the restructuring of the TA in November 1998 247W detailed work has been carried out to establish the level of administrative support required by the reformed TA. As it is our intention to make the TA more relevant, more usable and more fully integrated into the regular armed forces, we have concluded that the level of administrative support needs to be tailored to the readiness of the unit involved. Accordingly, the overall level of administrative support staff is being reduced broadly in line with the reduction in TA personnel and some units will receive an increased level of support. Altogether this will mean that there will be a net loss of some 600 civilian jobs nationally. MOD Trades Unions have been fully consulted about the implications for civilian staff and have raised a number of concerns, which are being addressed. My officials will now be working closely with the Trades Unions to ensure that the process of implementing the new TA structure is handled as sensitively as possible.