§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence when the Army youth teams were formed; how many teams there are; how many (a) Service, and (b) civilian personnel are employed in them; what is their annual cost, what is their rôle; and what are his proposals for their future.
§ Mr. Robert C. Brown:Army youth teams were first formed in 1964 and now total 79 in number. They are manned solely by Service personnel, of whom there are presently 395, and their annual cost is approximately £2.7 million. The rôle of the teams is to contact young people and encourage those of the right calibre to join the Army by assisting them in character building activities and by demonstrating Army skills and methods. It has, however, been regretfully decided to disband the Army youth teams by 5th April 1978 in order to release Service manpower for higher priority tasks and to reduce recruiting expenditure.
§ Mr. Critchleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he had before disbanding the Army youth teams as part of his latest round of defence cuts.
§ Mr. Robert C. Brown:The decision to disband the Army youth teams was taken as part of a larger package of measures intended to reduce defence recruiting costs and to switch resources to other areas with a greater military priority. It would not, therefore, have been an appropriate subject for discussion with outside organisations.
§ Mr. Arthur Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what savings 697W are expected as a result of the disbandment of the Army youth teams.
§ Mr. Robert C. Brown:The 395 Service personnel employed in the Army youth teams will be released for work of greater military priority elsewhere. In addition, there will be a saving of £500,000 in annual running costs.