§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will give a breakdown of the Army band establishment of 2,531 referred to in his answer of 8 December 1981 to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Mr. Jessel) Official Report, c. 358, between the various regiments and corps, setting out the number of bands for each, their established strength in each case and identifying the extent of his proposed reduction in each case.
§ Mr. WigginThe breakdown of the current Army band establishment and the proposed reductions are as follows:
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Band grouping Present establishment Recommended organisation Saving Household Cavalry 80 (2x40) 70 (2x35) 60 Footguards 300 (5x60) 250 (5x50) Cavalry 364(13x28) 354 (16x22) and 2 103 Royal Tank Regiment 93 (3x31) Directors of music Royal Artillery 105 (1x43, 2x31) 85 (1x50, 1x35) 20 Royal Engineers 74 (1x43, 1x31) 50 (1x50) 24 Royal Signals 50 50 (1x50) — Infantry Scottish Division 196 (7x28) 154 (7x22) 42 Queen's Division 252 (9x28) 198 (9x22) 54 King's Division 224 (8x28) 176 (8x22) 48 Prince of Wales' Division 252 (9x28) 198 (9x22) 54 Light Division 168 (6x28) 132 (6x22) 36 Parachute Regiment 84 (3x28) 66 (3x22) 18 Brigade of Gurkhas 60 (1x60) 50 (1x50) 10 Royal Corps of Transport 43 35 (1x35) 8 Royal Army Medical Corps 31 — 31 Royal Army Ordnance Corps 31 35 (1x35) +4 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 43 35 (1x35) 8 Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 39 — 39 Women's Royal Army Corps 42 35 7 Totals 2,531 1,973 558 Note:
The references in brackets are to the numbers and size of bands ie (2x40) means two bands of forty each.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the number of instruments of each type to be found in a typical infantry battalion band before and after the reduction proposed by him.
§ Mr. WigginThe numbers of instruments authorised for the typical infantry battalion band, excluding the bandmaster, before and after the proposed reduction are as follows:
Before After Flute 1 1 Clarinets 8 5 Oboe 1 — Alto Saxophone 1 1 Tenor Saxophone 1 1 French Horns 2 2 Cornets 5 4 Trombones 3 3 Euphonium 1 1 Bass 2 2 Percussion 2 1