RAF Maintenance Units

HC Deb 03 April 1984 vol 57 cc494-500W

Mr. Maclean

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list in the Official Report all the various trades, skills and professions currently employed in Royal Air Force maintenance units;

(2) if he will list in the Official Report the number of people employed in each of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force maintenance units, broken down by skill, trade and profession, each year since 1970.

Mr. Lee

The average number of civilians and service personnel employed in RAF maintenance units in each of the years from 1973–74 to 1982–83 is set out in the first following table. I regret that information is not available for the years before 1973; nor are records maintained of the detailed trades and grades employed in each unit prior to the current year, information on which is set out in the second and third tables.

Table 1
Year	Officers	Other ranks	Non-industrial	Industrial	Total Service	Total civilians
5MU RAF Kemble
1973–74	11	4	163	397	15	560
1974–75	11	9	369	180	20	549
1975–76	11	6	187	362	17	549
1976–77	10	3	189	354	13	543
1977–78	11	0	188	368	11	556
1978–79	11	0	191	359	11	550
1979–80	11	0	195	339	11	534
1980–81	11	0	165	326	11	491
1981–82	11	0	162	326	11	488
1982–83	10	1	139	290	11	429
23MU RAF Aldergrove
1973–74	9	1	256	802	10	1,058
1974–75	8	1	768	272	9	1,040
1975–76	8	1	276	755	9	1,031
1976–77	7	1	246	610	8	856
1977–78	4	10	135	336	14	471
1978–79	—	—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	—	—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	—	—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	—	—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	—	—	—	—	—	—
30MU Sealand
1973–74	46	678	753	605	724	1,358
1974–75	43	633	525	738	676	1,263
1975–76	38	606	767	500	644	1,267
1976–77	37	588	768	497	625	1,265
1977–78	35	602	757	521	637	1,278
1978–79	34	587	696	448	621	1,144
1979–80	25	631	701	461	656	1,162
1980–81	37	699	655	454	736	1,109
1981–82	40	734	668	449	774	1,117
1982–83	40	771	679	456	811	1,135
60MU Leaconfield
1973–74	46	824	54	135	870	189
1974–75	46	749	129	55	795	184
1975–76	38	659	49	138	697	187
1976–77	26	432	37	136	458	173
1977–78	—	—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	—	—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	—	—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	—	—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	—	—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	—	—	—	—	—	—
71MU Bicester
1973–74	29	610	64	71	634	135
1974–75	28	554	68	66	582	134
1975–76	19	322	50	76	341	126
1976–77	—	—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	—	—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	—	—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	—	—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	—	—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	—	—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	—	—	—	—	—	—
217MU Cardington
1973–74	4	3	62	205	7	267
1974–75	5	3	183	69	8	252
1975–76	4	—	59	146	4	205
1976–77	4	—	58	136	4	194
1977–78	4	0	53	126	4	179
1978–79	4	2	53	117	6	170
1979–80	4	2	54	115	6	169
1980–81	4	2	50	111	6	161
1981–82	4	0	43	118	4	161
1982–83	4	0	41	114	4	155
St. Athan
1973–74	89	1,391	271	611	1,480	882
1974–75	90	1,326	565	269	1,416	834

Year	Officers	Other ranks	Non-industrial	Industrial	Total Service	Total civilians
1975–76	74	1,308	271	593	1,382	864
1976–77	75	1,363	275	603	1,438	878
1977–78	89	1,522	275	858	1,611	1,133
1978–79	79	1,407	272	617	1,486	889
1979–80	73	1,499	273	618	1,572	891
1980–81	70	1,515	261	621	1,585	882
1981–82	80	1,595	247	600	1,675	847
1982–83	78	1,638	232	576	1,716	808
RAF Sydenham
1973–74	9	1	259	594	10	853
1974–75	11	1	600	321	12	921
1975–76	8	8	298	533	16	831
1976–77	8	1	252	417	9	669
1977–78	7	12	202	281	19	483
1978–79	—	—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	—	—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	—	—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	—	—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	—	—	—	—	—	—
RAF Abingdon
1973–74	—	—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	—	—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	41	648	84	113	689	197
1976–77	50	868	63	107	918	170
1977–78	45	999	57	101	1,044	158
1978–79	43	1,019	55	98	1,062	153
1979–80	41	1,006	50	98	1,047	148
1980–81	38	1,044	47	90	1,082	137
1981–82	41	1,072	52	92	1,113	144
1982–83	42	1,100	50	74	1,142	124
7 MU Quedgeley
1973–74	14	1	333	840	15	1,173
1974–75	14	2	681	330	16	1,011
1975–76	12	2	305	687	14	992
1976–77	13	1	293	661	14	954
1977–78	12	1	270	590	13	860
1978–79	13	1	250	527	14	777
1979–80	10	0	225	524	10	749
1980–81	9	0	211	494	9	705
1981–82	10	0	194	455	10	649
1982–83	11	0	177	425	11	602
11 MU RAF Chilmark
1973–74	13	—	108	227	13	335
1974–75	12	—	187	110	12	297
1975–76	9	—	111	188	9	299
1976–77	9	0.25	120	185	9.25	305
1977–78	12	2	121.5	187.5	14	309
1978–79	11	3	122	194	14	316
1979–80	11	4	128	190	14	318
1980–81	9	4	129	186	12	315
1981–82	11	4	128	192	15	320
1982–83	10	4	124	186	14	310
14 MU RAF Carlisle
1973–74	21	6	739	1,049	27	1,788
1974–75	20	2	916	740	22	1,656
1975–76	17	1	717	895	18	1,612
1976–77	17	1	701	811	18	1,512
1977–78	16	0	655	776	16	1,431
1978–79	16	0	632	758	16	1,390
1979–80	15	0	631	740	15	1,371
1980–81	15	0	594	721	15	1,315
1981–82	17	0	564	691	17	1,255
1982–83	17	0	538	665	17	1,203
16 MU Stafford
1973–74	60	804	394	794	864	1,188
1974–75	59	743	698	402	802	1,100
1975–76	53	717	394	670	770	1,064
1976–77	55	729	346	666	784	1,012
1977–78	55	719	422	704	774	1,126
1978–79	50	690	414	707	740	1,121

Year	Officers	Other ranks	Non-industrial	Industrial	Total Service	Total civilians
1979–80	48	766	416	713	814	1,129
1980–81	42	837	400	650	879	1,050
1981–82	52	921	389	636	973	1,025
1982–83	55	893	382	650	948	1,032
25 MU Hartlebury
1973–74	11	8	213	380	19	593
1974–75	11	2	322	217	13	539
1975–76	10	—	177	242	10	419
1976–77	10	—	184	236	10	420
1977–78	7	0	96	59	7	155
1978–79	—	—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	—	—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	—	—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	—	—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	—	—	—	—	—	—

RAF maintenance units—RAF strength (current-March 1984)
Unit	Officers	Trades	Others	Total
	Administration	Engineering	Supply	Armourer	Air frame	Electrician	Engineer	General	lnstructor	Radio technology	Stores
11 MU Chilmark	2	1	8	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	15
7 MU Quedgeley	2	1	8	Nil	11
14 MU Carlisle	3	3	8	Nil	14
16 MU Stafford	14	5	28	71	2	8	3	107	—	—	554	104	896
217 MU Cardington	—	1	3	—	—	—	—	3	—	—	—	—	7
30 MU Sealand	11	19	7	2	1	613	—	—	—	—	13	41	707
Abingdon	14	20	3	14	461	148	57	72	—	—	68	278	1,135
RAF St. Athan	21	40	9	32	569	270	241	198	—	—	154	393	1,927
Total	67	90	74	119	1,033	1,039	301	380	—	—	791	818	4,712

RAF Maintenance Units—Civilian strength by grade as at 1 January 1984
	11 MU Chilmark	7 MU Quedgeley	14 MU Carlisle	16 MU Stafford	217 MU Cardington	30 MU Sealand	RAF Abingdon	RAF St. Athan	Totals
Administrative/Executive	36	74	245	174	20	171	39	113	872
Typing	4	6	10	15	2	13	11	17	78
Data Process		1	22	29		4		4	60
Professional/Technical	20	16	135	45	17	534	4	91	862
Stores Officer	10	34	65	40	2	10		2	163
Station Warden			1	2		1	3	3	10
Process Supervisor	3	1	4	5		2		2	17
Communications	2	10	27	22	2	11		9	81
Graphics		1	1			1	1		4
Scientific	3							1	4
Fire Officers	1	1	1	1		1			5
Photoprinters			2	2		2		4	10
Police
Instructors				1	1	4		1	7
Technical Trainees						24			24
Armourers	11		1					9	21
Carpenters	2	23	17	19	1	8		5	75
Fitters	9	44	52	121	25	120		307	678
Painters	3	8	6	6	1	1		4	29
Machinist/Wood/Metal		6	6	4	4	1		4	25
Catering	49	10	12	42		38	43	92	286
Drivers	27	68	90	121	21	30	10	22	389
Firemen	26	18	19	19	3	19		1	105
Examiners	22	1	4	7	6				40
Gas Plant Operators					8				8
Labourer	28	19	66	84	18	47	16	53	331
Storekeeper	33	162	353	198	8	91	9	46	900
Messenger	1	2	3	4		5	2	4	21
Locomotive Driver	9								9
Rigger		1	14						15
Shot Blaster	2	4	2						8
Aircraft Surface Finisher			2	1				19	22
Fabric Worker	1	1		1		4		4	11
Blacksmith		1	1	1		1			4
Instrument Worker			31	4		78		10	123
Battery Maintenance				4		1		1	6
Safety Worker		1	3	5					9
Miscellaneous	5	2	5		9		2	2	25
Total	345	534	1,231	1,018	148	1,222	140	830	5,468