§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the percentage of the(a) Army, 532W (b) Navy and (c) Air Force which were committed to operations in each reporting period for each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [18754]
§ Mr. IngramSince April 2000, the percentage of the trained strength committed to operations for each service has been collated on a quarterly basis. These percentages, which do not include personnel preparing for operations, recovering from operations, or engaged in training, are shown in the table.
Percentage of trained strength committed to operations Percentage Army Navy1 Air Force 2000–01 April-June 21.6 11.1 9.2 July-September 22.7 13.8 9.0 October-December 23.1 19.3 8.7 January-March 24.4 10.8 8.5 2001–02 April-June 21.8 9.5 8.9 July-September 25.6 8.4 9.8 1 Including Marines For financial years 1998–99 and 1999–2000, summary information on commitment levels can be found in the relevant Ministry of Defence Performance Report, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. Information for years predating the 1998 Strategic Defence Review is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. We remain determined to balance operational commitments and we will commit personnel to operations for no longer than is necessary to achieve the military aim. Recent operations in Macedonia demonstrated this well. To mitigate the demands placed upon those service personnel who are deployed on operations overseas, we have introduced a new and comprehensive package of welfare support.