§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's ambulances are(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) overseas; and if he will estimate the normal requirements of the service in peacetime.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe armed forces have approximately 1,000 ambulances of various types in service in the United Kingdom and approximately 700 overseas. The services also maintain stocks of vehicles for use in the event of war, however details of such holdings are classified.
The military requirement for ambulances in peacetime centres on the need to provide day-to-day emergency medical cover at service establishments and also the need to ensure that appropriate numbers of vehicles are available for training and exercises. The current size of the military ambulance fleet reflects this.