§ Mr. Croninasked the Minister of State for Defence if he will take steps to reduce the period of separation of officers, petty officers and ratings in the Royal Navy from their families, having regard to the shorter periods of separation generally regarded as essential in other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation navies such as the United States Navy.
§ Mr. BuckWe, like other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation navies, have been greatly concerned about countering the problems which arise from the separation of naval personnel from their families. We have limited the amount of time which a man may be 131W expected to serve at sea and away from home waters. Since 1st January 1972 a limit in normal circumstances of nine months has been placed on the deployment of a ship away from its base port, and men do not spend, in total, more than half of a 30 months' commission away from United Kingdom waters. This represents a significant cut in each period of separation but we are keeping the situation under review.