§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has paid in employment protection to employers of members of(a) the Territorial Army, (b) the Royal Navy Reserve, (c) the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and (d) sponsored reservists mobilised in each year for which figures are available since 1989–90; and if he will make a statement. [97663]
§ Mr. SpellarNo payments are made to employers of members of the reserve forces for the purposes of employment protection. Under the terms of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 and the Reserve Forces (Call-out and Recall) (Financial Assistance) Regulations 1997 (SI 1997/309), employers may claim financial assistance for the loss of a member of staff who is mobilised for reserve service, and to cover any necessary retraining for that staff member on return. No financial assistance was provided to employers before 1 April 1997.
No awards of financial assistance have been made to employers of Royal Naval Reserve personnel as a result of called-out service since 1 April 1997.
It has not been possible to distinguish payments made to employers of TA personnel from those made to the employers of ex-Regular Army reserves. However, since 1 April 1997, the following totals have been paid to the employers of Army reservists:
408W
Financial Year Amount paid to employers (£) 1997–98 11,939 1998–99 64,762 1999–2000 126,654 1 As at end October 1999 Figures relating to employers' claims are available only for the Royal Auxiliary Air Force since June 1999. Since June 1999, payments totalling £7,158.27 have been made to employers of Royal Auxiliary Air Force reservists.
There are no Sponsored Reserves in service.