Front-line Troops

HC Deb 05 July 1999 vol 334 c344W

Mr. Laurence Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his projection on the strength of the Army in terms of front-line troops, for the next three years, taking into account any increase in premature voluntary release which may occur as a result of the extra deployments in Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [88622]

Mr. Doug Henderson

[holding answer 28 June 1999]The forecast of trained strength of the Army over the next three years is:

Year	Amount
April 2000	100,271
April 2001	102,058
April 2002	103,670

The figures represent the forecast of all UK trained Army personnel and Gurkha trained personnel. "Frontline" is not a recognised description of any part of the Army.

Although it is still too early to measure the effect of deployment of troops to Kosovo on Premature Voluntary Release (PVR) rates, we are taking a number of measures to reduce overstretch, which is recognised as one of the causes of high PVR rates.