§ Lord Vivianasked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the reasons for reducing the Armed Forces manning requirement between 1 April and 30 September 2002; by how much was the requirement reduced; and what were the reductions within each service. [HL1945]
§ Lord BachDetails of the manpower requirements for 1 April 2002 and 1 October 2002 by individual service are shown in the table below:
1 April 2002 1 October 2002 Difference All services 196,150 195,350 -800 Royal Navy 39,180 38,570 -610 Army 106,970 106,980 +10 Royal Air Force 49,990 49,800 -190 Notes:
Figures are for full-time trained requirement.
All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 and therefore the totals may not always equal the sum of the parts.
The requirement figure as at 1 October 2002 is 800 personnel fewer than 1 April 2002. The Navy requirement figure shows the greatest change, showing a reduction in requirement of 610 during the period in question. The reductions were due to ships entering refit and would have been offset later by ships emerging from refit.
A review of the Army's future manpower requirement concluded last year, resulting in a revised manning target of 106,978 (106,980 rounded). This was published by the Defence Analytical Services Agency in June 2002. The previously published figure was 106,973 (106,970 rounded).
The change in the RAF requirement figure of — 190 is due to small variations in the requirement which occur throughout the year reflecting decisions taken as part of the manpower planning processes.