§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will give statistics on the significant increase in the number of (a) trained officers and (b) men applying for premature voluntary release from the Army and Royal Air Force; to what he attributes this increase; and what action he has taken to correct the situation.
§ Dr. GilbertThe number of trained officers in the Army and Royal Air Force who have applied for premature voluntary release in the last five financial years is as follows:
Army Royal Air Force 1973–74 597 514 1974–75 606 447 1975–76 539 472 1976–77 509 497 1977–78 (April-December) 646 537 The number of airmen in ground trades who have applied for premature voluntary release during the same period is shown below:
Royal Air Force 1973–74 3,584 1974–75 3,407 1975–76 2,821 1976–77 2,532 1977–78 (April-December) 2,138 Comparable figures for applications for the Army are not readily available as records are not kept centrally but the number of soldiers actually leaving on premature voluntary release is as follows:
Army 1973–74 5,292 1974–75 6,014 1975–76 4,174 1976–77 3,750 1977–78 (April-December) 3,823 Many factors affect the number of personnel applying to leave the Services prematurely in any one year but I have no doubt that, at the present time, anxiety about pay and conditions of service and turbulence caused by various emergency duties, both at home and overseas, are factors in many cases. Pay is now being reviewed, and will be increased from 1st April.