§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram)A computer coding error has been identified in Army strength figures prepared by the Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA) since 1 April 2001. From that date a number of untrained soldiers have been recorded against the trained Army strength. As a result Army strength figures previously announced and included in DASA publications have overstated the trained strength of the Army during that period. However, the combined strength of trained and untrained personnel has been correctly reported in all publications. It is the breakdown between trained and untrained strength that is affected by this problem.
As at 1 February 2003, whole Army strength (comprising UK Trained Army Personnel, Gurkhas and Full Time Reserve Service) stood at 101,750. Army recruitment and retention initiatives are producing 37WS gains to whole Army strength in line with forecasts. The trend over the past twelve months has been encouraging with Army strength increasing by over 1,300 trained personnel. A table comparing the figures issued in error with the corrected figures follows:
38WS
Whole Army Strength (April 2001—February 2003)—Previously Published and Corrected Figures 1 Apr 01 UKTAP 96,285 96,280 GURKHAS 3,447 3,450 FTRS 646 650 TOTAL 100,380 100,380 1 May 01 UKTAP 96,083 96,060 GURKHAS 3,455 3,450 FTRS 674 670 TOTAL 100,210 100,180 1 Jun 01 UKTAP 96,003 95,980 GURKHAS 3,471 3,470 FTRS 695 700 TOTAL 100,170 100,140 1 Jul 01 UKTAP 95,864 95,820 GURKHAS 3,485 3,480 FTRS 695 700 TOTAL 100,040 100,000 1 Aug 01 UKTAP 95,863 95,780 GURKHAS 3,500 3,500 FTRS 709 710 TOTAL 100,070 99,980 1 Sep 01 UKTAP 96,049 95,920 GURKHAS 3,500 3,500 FTRS 755 760 TOTAL 100,300 100,170 1 Oct 01 UKTAP 96,261 95,970 GURKHAS 3,528 3,530 FTRS 812 810 TOTAL 100,600 100,310 1 Nov 01 UKTAP 96,255 95,900 GURKHAS 3,526 3,530 FTRS 854 850 TOTAL 100,640 100,280 1 Dec 01 UKTAP 96,320 96,000 GURKHAS 3,583 3,580 FTRS 901 900 TOTAL 100,800 100,490 1 Jan 02 UKTAP 96,373 96,040 GURKHAS 3,622 3,620 FTRS 919 920 TOTAL 100,910 100,580 1 Feb 02 UKTAP 96,449 95,980 GURKHAS 3,536 3,540 FTRS 914 910 TOTAL 100,900 100,430 1 Mar 02 UKTAP 96,428 95,980 GURKHAS 3,458 3,460 FTRS 919 920 TOTAL 100,810 100,360 1 Apr 02 UKTAP 96,507 96,020 GURKHAS 3,449 3,450 FTRS 946 950 TOTAL 100,900 100,420 1 May 02 UKTAP 96,880 96,330 GURKHAS 3,460 3,460 FTRS 984 980 TOTAL 101,320 100,770 1 Jun 02 UKTAP 97,050 96,430 GURKHAS 3,470 3,470 FTRS 988 990 TOTAL 101,510 100,890 1 Jul 02 UKTAP 97,090 96,500 GURKHAS 3,470 3,470 FTRS 981 980 TOTAL 101,540 100,960 1 Aug 02 UKTAP 96,970 96,360 GURKHAS 3,480 3,470 FTRS 1,030 1,030 TOTAL 101,480 100,860
Whole Army Strength (April 2001—February 2003)—Previously Published and Corrected Figures 1 Sep 02 UKTAP 97,160 96,590 GURKHAS 3,460 3,460 FTRS 1,043 1,040 TOTAL 101,660 101,100 1 Oct 02 UKTAP 97,480 96,780 GURKHAS 3,460 3,460 FTRS 1,054 1,050 TOTAL 101,990 101,290 1 Nov 02 UKTAP 97,540 96,880 GURKHAS 3,480 3,480 FTRS 1,054 1,060 TOTAL 102,070 101,420 1 Dec 02 UKTAP 97,630 96,840 GURKHAS 3,500 3,500 FTRS 1,082 1,080 TOTAL 102,220 101,420 1 Jan 03 UKTAP 98,180 97,200 GURKHAS 3,520 3,520 FTRS 1,105 1,110 TOTAL 102,800 101,820 1 Feb 03 UKTAP 97,220 GURKHAS 3,430 FTRS 1,100 TOTAL 101,750 Rounding to the nearest 10 introduced in May 2002. Due to the rounding methods used totals may not always equal the sum of the parts.