Army Emergency Reserve (Hansard, 6 February 1961)

§ Mr. Profumo:

Yes. The importance of the Army Emergency Reserve will be increased as a result of the ending of National Service, and its reorganisation to meet the changed conditions is complementary to that of the Territorial Army, which was announced by my predecessor on 20th July last year.

The Army Emergency Reserve will, as in the past, be divided into three categories. Category I will be composed of volunteers who accept a special 15W liability for service in circumstances which do not necessitate calling out other parts of the Reserves by Proclamation. The number of men in this category will be within the limit of 15,000 laid down in the Army Reserve Act, 1950. In future, this category will be mainly organised in units and its members will, where necessary, carry out a certain amount of training in the evenings or at week-ends, in addition to their annual camp. The rates of annual bounty will be substantially increased from the previous maximum of £25 for the training and pre-proclamation liabilities. Now, in addition to a tax-free bounty of up to £16 for training, members of this category will receive a taxable bounty of £60 in recognition of their pre-proclamation liability.

Category II will have the same liability as at present to be called out by Proclamation in case of imminent national danger or of great emergency, There will therefore be no change in the existing terms of service for this category. It will consist largely of specialists for whom training outside annual camp on the Territorial Army pattern is not required. The revised establishment will provide for about 13,000 volunteers, but, for the next few years, those National Service men who carry out their Reserve service in the Army Emergency Reserve will continue to be posted to this category.

Category III, which consists of certain highly skilled tradesmen, will continue unchanged.

An important feature of the reorganisation is that, so far as possible, units will, in future, be recruited on a regional 16W basis and will be affiliated to units of the Regular and Territorial Armies. This should facilitate training and assist recruiting by encouraging local interest.

The Army Emergency Reserve is an essential part of our Reserve Forces, and I take this opportunity of paying tribute to the efforts of those volunteers on whom it has depended in the past. In future, it must be sustained by voluntary recruitment; I trust that, as a result of this reorganisation and of the steps I am taking to make known more fully the importance of this Reserve, those volunteers will come forward.