§ Mr. Onslowasked the Secretary of State for Defence what central record is maintained by his Department of the number of men absent without leave from the Services.
§ Mr. ReynoldsTo avoid wasteful duplication, we rely in such cases on information collected by the three Services for their own management purposes. The available figures go back many years and are, for this and other reasons, not entirely comparable. It would have been misleading to quote them in reply to the question put down to me on the 16th October. I shall write to the hon. Member to explain the position in greater detail.—[Vol. 770, c.121.]