HC Deb 30 October 2000 vol 355 cc268-9W
16. Mr. Ennis

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what percentage of the Army is committed to, preparing for, or recovering from operations. [133000]

Mr. Spellar

Some 22 per cent. of the trained Army is committed to Operations. This figure includes units preparing for, deployed on and recovering from operations. Of these, 15 per cent. of the trained Army is currently deployed on operations.

There has been a significant reduction in commitment levels over the past year, particularly since the height of the Kosovo campaign in July 1999 when the commitment level reached a peak of 44 per cent. The current level of commitment is below that inherited from the previous Administration.

Average unit tour intervals in the Army have also decreased over recent years and while in some specialist areas tour intervals remain at around 12 months, our latest assessment of the average time between unit tours across the Army for this year is around 30 months, the best figure for at least five years.