§ Mr.Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total cost of the Armed Forces recruitment services during the last financial year; how many were recruited; and what this represents in terms of cost per recruit.
§ Mr.WellbelovedExpenditure on recruitment to the Armed Services in the financial year 1977–78 amounted to approximately £26.16 million. During the same period 38,237 men and women joined the services and on this basis the average cost per recruit was £684. It is, however, misleading to draw a direct comparison between expenditure on recruiting and the number who actually join in any one year since the level of recruiting is influenced by a number of factors other than expenditure.