§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on his plans to make greater use of the Commonwealth as a source of potential army recruits; which(a) countries and (b) specialities will be targeted; and what the budget of the recruitment exercise will be; [156793]
(2) if the plans to make greater use of the Commonwealth as a source of potential army recruits will include the recruitment of Commonwealth nationals into (a) existing regiments and units or (b) new Commonwealth regiments and units; what pay and conditions will apply; and if he will make a statement; [156794]
(3) if the plans to make greater use of the Commonwealth as a source of potential army recruits include recruitment from Commonwealth countries whose head of state is not Her Majesty the Queen; and if he will make a statement; [156795]
(4) what oath of allegiance will be taken by non-British recruits from Commonwealth countries when they are enlisted into the British Army under the plans in the Strategy for the Army. [156797]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Army has no plans to recruit actively from the Commonwealth and there is, therefore, no specific budget allocated to this area of recruitment. Applications are welcomed from Commonwealth citizens, subject to their meeting the normal entry criteria, irrespective of whether the Queen is head of state or not. Successful applicants are placed wherever vacancies exist according to their qualifications, performance at selection and preferences, where possible; there are no plans to institute "Commonwealth" regiments. Individuals enlist under the same terms and conditions of service as UK applicants and are required to swear an oath of allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen as head of the Commonwealth. The visits made to Fiji and St. Vincent and the Grenadines by army selection teams in 1999 and 2000 took place in order to process the large backlog of applications from these countries; no new recruitment was undertaken during these visits. The British Army has traditionally welcomed members of the Commonwealth as soldiers and officers. It is perhaps the spread of information via the world wide web and similar mediums that has increased the level of interest from overseas areas in recent months.
198W
§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-British citizens from Commonwealth countries are serving in the armed forces other than in training or observation roles, in each case(a) the regiment or unit in which they serve, (b) the country of which they are a citizen and (c) the terms of service; and if he will make a statement. [156796]
§ Mr. SpellarThe table details the numbers of non-British citizens from Commonwealth countries serving in the Army by Arm/Corps as at 1 March 2001.
Army Corps Total Household Cavalry 7 Royal Armoured Corps 27 Royal Artillery 57 Royal Engineers 19 Royal Signals 23 Footguards 29 Scots Division 109 Queens Division 70 Kings Division 33 Prince of Wales' Division 76 Light Division 50 Royal Irish (General Service) 25 Paratroopers 60 Army Air Corps 9 Royal Army Chaplains Division 5 Royal Logistical Corps 84 Royal Army Medical Corps 37 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 14 Adjutant General's Corps (Provost Branch) 5 Adjutant General's Corps (Staff and Personnel Support Branch) 25 Royal Army Dental Corps 11 Long Service List 5 Other 21 Grand total 801 The table details the country of which they are a citizen (as at 1 March 2001).
Nationality Total Australia 61 Fiji 373 India 12 Jamaica 34 Kenya 7 Malta Gc 6 Canada 62 New Zealand 51 Trinidad and Tobago 9 Pakistan 6 Zimbabwe 45 South Africa 70 Other 65 Total 801 To ensure confidentiality under the Data Protection Act (1998) several Corps and nationalities were combined in the category 'Other' as categories with less than five entries cannot be published. The Corps combined include: Corps of Army Music, Army Physical Training Corps, Intelligence Corps, Adjutant General's Corps (Army Legal Service), Adjutant General's Corps Education and Training Service, Gurkhas, Staff, Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps and Royal Veterinary Corps.
Non-British citizens from Commonwealth countries serve on the same terms of service as British citizens.
199WIt is not possible to publish data for the Royal Navy or RAF as details on nationality are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.