§ Mr. Sayeedasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the savings to public funds that would arise if service postings abroad were on an unaccompanied basis in (a) the British Army of the Rhine, (b) the rest of Europe and (c) the remainder of the world; and if he will show separately the estimated savings in foreign exchange.
§ Mr. LeeThere are approximately 50,000 armed forces personnel serving overseas with their families. The introduction of an unaccompanied postings policy would represent a fundamental change in conditions of service with significant adverse effects on morale, recruitment and retention, and such a policy is not therefore under consideration. Furthermore, it would require a large-scale study to establish the net financial effects of an unaccompanied postings policy, taking into account many areas of additional costs as well as savings, and I regret that such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.