HC Deb 18 June 1999 vol 333 cc260-1W
Mr. Bob Russell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list, by regiment and other section headings(a) the official complement and (b) the actual numbers in post in the Army. [87005]

Mr. Doug Henderson

Different Service Arms attach the term "Regiment" to varying sizes of formation, and not all of them further divide their "official complement" (referred to internally as the Liability, or the "Manpower Planning Target"). The following information is provided in terms of Arm/Service.

The following table provides details of each Service Arm's Strength and Liability, and the difference between the two, as at 1 April 1999. In line with our normal practice, the figures provided include the UK Trained Adult Personnel and Gurkhas, but exclude the Royal Irish (Home Service) Regiment and officers and soldiers under training. The figures shown for the Gurkhas include some three hundred men who form the Gurkha reinforcement companies which are attached to three infantry regiments, and a number of Gurkhas held over Liability to fill key posts elsewhere. I should also point out that the figures do not include 98 officers and 485 soldiers from the Reserves who are mobilised in Bosnia, or 226 Full Time Reservist Service personnel.

The liability and trained strength, by Arm/Service, of the Army
Arm/Service Liability1 Strength +/-
Staff Officers 689 725
Household Cavalry/Royal Armoured Corps 5,949 5,492 -457
Royal Artillery 8,621 7,869 -752
Royal Engineers 8,336 8,653 ?
Royal Signals 9,045 8,174 -871
Infantry 27,321 24,972 -2,349
Army Air Corps 1,706 1,540 -166
Royal Army Chaplain's Department 137 135 -2
Royal Logistic Corps 15,860 15,224 -636
Royal Army Medical Corps 2,720 2,720 -328
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 10,069 9,560 -509
Adjutant General's Corps 6,954 7,034
Royal Army Veterinary Corps 165 132 -33
Small Arms School Corps 140 149
Royal Army Dental Corps 428 350 -78
Intelligence Corps 1,216 1,095 -121
Army Physical Training Corps 393 386 -7
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 882 667 -215
Corps of Army Musicians 1,161 1,051 -110
General List 0 2
Unallocated 0 125 ?
Long Service List 597 573 -24
Gurkhas 2,882 3,374 ?
Total 105,271 99,674 -5,597
1 To implement the Post-SDR force structure the Army's Manpower Requirement (Liability) for Regular Forces (including Gurkhas, but excluding R IRISH (HS) Full Time, Territorial Army and Full Time Reserve Personnel) will increase to 108,439 by 1 April 2005.

Mr. Bob Russell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the shortfall in the official complement of the Army on 1 May(a) 1997 and (b) 1998. [87035]

Mr. Doug Henderson

The shortfall of UK Trained Army Personnel as at 1 May 1997 and 1 May 1998 was 5,406 and 5,438 respectively, and for Gurkha Trained Personnel, a surplus of 473 existed on both dates. These figures exclude Royal Irish (Home Service), and reserve personnel mobilised for duties associated with Bosnia, Full Time Reserve Personnel and Locally Employed Personnel.