§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many RAF officers have, since 1973, applied for and been refused premature voluntary retirement;
(2) how many RAF officers since 1973 have applied for and been granted premature voluntary retirement.
§ Mr. DuffyThe results of applications for premature voluntary release are:
Refused … … … … 94 Approved … … … … 1,471 Unfortunately, separate figures for premature voluntary retirement are not readily available.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF officers in each of the last three years have tried unsuccessfully to resign their commissions; and if he will make a statement on the desirability of helping recalcitrant officers in a Service which is turning away volunteers.
§ Mr. DuffySeparate records of these cases are not maintained, but since the total number of unsuccessful applications for all forms of premature voluntary release has been of the order of 60 in the last three years, very few officers can have applied unsuccessfully to resign. It is desirable, as a general proposition, to release officers who have shown that they are anxious to leave the Royal Air Force; but the release of trained officers who wish to break the commitment into which they have entered voluntarily is frequently incompatible with the fundamental interests of the Service.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF officers since 1056W 1973 have been granted premature voluntary retirement without having amortised their training costs.
§ Mr. DuffySeparate records of these cases are not maintained, and they could not be identified without disproportionate effort. The numbers are, however, certainly small, because, as the hon. Member knows, premature voluntary retirement in these circumstances is permitted only when there are exceptional reasons for doing so.