§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimates his Department has made of how much, on average, individual members of the Army spent on purchasing additional or replacement clothing and equipment to supplement standard issue kit over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [78637]
§ Mr. IngramNone. Service personnel are provided with all the equipment they require to do their jobs. The clothing and equipment with which they are issued is designed to be fit for purpose in a range of circumstances.
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the forces have indicated that they(a) have and (b) have not purchased additional replacement (i) clothing and (ii) equipment supplementing kit issued by the Army in the last 12 months; what percentage of actual strength this represents in each case; and if he will make a statement. [78636]
§ Mr. IngramIn response to the latest Army Continuous Attitude Survey, 1,037 individuals indicated that they had purchased some item of equipment or clothing in the last 12 months. This represents some 26 per cent. of those surveyed. Seventy four per cent. of individuals indicated that they had not. The survey does not ask the individual to make the distinction between clothing or equipment, and purchases may include items which are not issued by the Army. The survey was administered to a 4 per cent. random sample of the trained Army (excluding Gurkhas and Full Time Reserve Service personnel); 3,978 questionnaires were sent out.