§ 31. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Defence what are the latest available figures for the recruiting cost per recruit for the Army, Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force; what progress haas been made in developing job-centres for such recruitment, and what additional steps he is taking to reduce recruitment costs.
§ Mr. WellbelovedAs I told my hon. Friend on 2nd May—[Vol. 931, c. 51–2.]—in the last financial year, the latest period for which figures are available, the average costs per recruit were £570 for the Royal Navy, £683 for the Army and £818 for the Royal Air Force. I told my hon. Friend on 19th July—[Vol. 935, c. 540.]—that considerable progress has already been made in achieving reductions of £2 million and £5 million in expenditure on recruiting over the next two years. Greater use of jobcentres will continue to be borne in mind.