HC Deb 14 December 1998 vol 322 cc326-7W
Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with(a) ministerial colleagues and (b) others on reforming the entry requirements for the armed services. [63160]

Mr. Doug Henderson

Eligibility criteria for entry into the Armed Forces are kept under constant review. A review of all nationality eligibility rules was carried out at the beginning of this year, during which officials in my Department consulted with their counterparts in the Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office. The results of the review were conveyed to the House on 18 February 1998,Official Report, columns 665–66.

A review of all other basic eligibility criteria is nearing completion. The aim of this review has been to determine whether any eligibility criteria are unnecessarily restrictive, and could therefore be relaxed.

Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications to join the armed services have been refused in each of the last five years. [63161]

Mr. Doug Henderson

Details of the number of applicants who were refused entry into the Armed Forces are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However, the numbers of applicants and enlistments for each Service in the last five financial years were as follows:

1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98
Naval Service
Applications 1— 1— 9,696 12,879 14,252
Enlistments 1,535 1,301 2,337 3,959 4,600
Army
Applications 36,388 53,333 43,491 40,491 42,247
Enlistments 9,576 10,684 12,911 15,522 15,379
RAF
Applications 13,304 15,398 17,213 15,510 12,767
Enlistments 841 1,022 2,424 2,684 3,526

Note:

1 Details of number of Naval Service applicants not available

Applicants may not subsequently be enlisted for a variety of reasons. For example, they may be ineligible under one or more of the basic eligibility criteria, have criminal convictions that are not acceptable, may fail the recruiting test, prove unsuitable at interview, or perhaps fail their medical. Additionally, a number of applicants for each Service voluntarily withdraw their applications before they are enlisted.