HL Deb 19 July 2000 vol 615 c97WA
Lord Hughes of Woodside

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What changes they intend to make in the presentation of information on the strength of the Armed Forces. [HL3438]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

In order to provide a more accurate and relevant picture of the overall full-time manpower available to the Armed Forces, we plan to include in the definition of the strength of the Services all full-time personnel, including Full-Time Reserve Service personnel and, in the case of the Army, Gurkhas. In view of their discrete and specialised task in a particular location, the Royal Irish (Home Service) will be reported separately. This change will take effect from September 2000.

The inclusion of Full-Time Reserve Service personnel is in line with our aim to make reserve forces more relevant and usable and is a natural consequence of the Reserve Forces Act 1996, which provides for the employment of reservists in place of full-time regular personnel.