§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the(a) target and (b) actual figures have been for recruitment into (a) the Royal Naval Reserve and (b) the Royal Marines Reserve in each of the past five years. [92965]
§ Dr. MoonieThe target and actual figures for recruitment into the Royal Naval Reserve are recorded by financial year. The figures for the most recent five financial years are as follows:
Target Actual 1998–99 650 445 1999–2000 650 604 2000–01 650 562 2001–02 650 676 2002–03 480 1410 1As at 31 December 2002 The target and actual figures for recruitment into the Royal Marines Reserve are recorded by calendar year. The RMR figures for each of the last five years are as follows:
Target Actual 1998–99 300 285 1999–2000 300 328 2000–01 300 260 2001–02 300 288 2002–03 300 225
§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the role and structure of the Royal Naval Reserve; [92969]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the changed roles of (a) the RNR and (b) the RMR since 11 September 2001. [92966]
§ Dr. MoonieThe Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) exists to provide a corps of readily available, highly trained personnel to enable the Royal Navy to meet its operational commitments in times of stretch, crisis, tension and war—including peacekeeping and humanitarian operations and disaster relief.
The RNR is based upon 13 general-purpose Reserve Training Centres located throughout the United Kingdom. The majority of RNR Branches and Specialisations provide unique skill sets, which are not
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§ Dr. MoonieThe target and actual recruitment figures for the the Royal Marines in each of the past five years as follows:
generally required in peacetime, but are used to augment the Fleet in times of crisis. The operational structure of the RNR has recently been updated to ensure that these requirements can be met. The structure comprises six branches, some of which cover a number of specialisations.
Following the events of 11 September, my hon Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced that the Ministry of Defence would look again at its defence posture to ensure that we have the right concepts, the right forces and the right capabilities to meet the additional challenges we face from international terrorism and asymmetric threat. He described this work as a New Chapter to the Strategic Defence Review published in 1998. This was presented to Parliament by my hon Friend the Secretary of State for Defence by Command of Her Majesty in July 2002.
Following this review, there are no changes to the role of the Royal Naval Reserve. Neither have there been changes to the role of the RMR, which remains to reinforce the Royal Marines and other services as and when required with individuals and sub-units worldwide.
§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many(a) professional and (b) voluntary personnel are in the Royal Naval Reserve. [92970]
§ Dr. MoonieAll members of the Royal Naval Reserve are volunteers. There were 3,222 volunteers as at 31 December 2002. There are 103 serving—i.e. regular armed forces—personnel and 13 Retired Officers employed in managing the RNR and training the volunteers.