§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of(a) the Army, (b) the Royal Air Force and (c) the Royal Navy have changed from Maristat One in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) 2001–02 into marital category (1) decree absolute, (2) separated and (3) annulled; what proportion of each service strength this represents in each year; what proportion of each service married strength this represents in each year; and if he will make a statement. [27675]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 23 January 2002]: Information on marital status is held on a different system for each service. It is not possible to answer the question exactly as phrased, as the categories specified cannot be isolated in every case. The available information is as follows. 592W
Table 1: Total strength of Army and the numbers who have changed from "married" to other marital status in financial years 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–021 Strength as at 1 April 109,722 110,052 109,531 Married strength as at 1 April 53,473 51,983 50,786 Decree absolute 947 905 634 Annulment 3 2 3 Widow/er 22 17 10 Total 972 924 647 Proportion change from strength (%) 0.9 0.8 0.6 Proportion change from married strength (%) 1.8 1.8 1.3 1 Data for 2001–02 are to 1 December 2001
Table 2: Total strength of RAF and the numbers who have changed from "married" to other marital status in financial years 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–021 Strength as at 1 April 55,213 54,715 53,699 Married strength as at 1 April 33,318 31,915 30,670 Divorced absolute 3 11 6 Divorced nisi 1 10 5 Widow/er 16 26 10 Separated 1,153 1,036 717 Annulled 0 1 0 Total 1,173 1,084 738 Proportion change from strength (%) 2.1 2.0 1.4 Proportion change from married strength (%) 3.5 3.4 2.4 1Data for 2001–02 are to 24 January 2002
Table 3: Total strength of Naval Service and the numbers who have changed from "married" to other marital status in financial years 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–021 Strength as at 1 April 43,701 42,849 42,421 Married strength as at 1 April 21,441 19,094 18,438 Widowed, divorced or separated and providing care for children living with them align="right"30 19 12 voluntary maintenance/child support 430 387 239 maintenance/child support by court order 2 4 1 Other 272 249 127 Total 734 659 379 Proportion change from strength (%) 1.7 1.5 0.9 Proportion change from married strength (%) 3.4 3.5 2.0 1Data for 2001–02 are to 15 January 2002