§ Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expected financial saving will be from the reduction of infantry battalions; and who will take the decision on which infantry battalions are to be disbanded. [188793]
§ Mr. IngramMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced to the House on 21 July 2004,Official Report, columns 343–50, plans to transform the armed forces to ensure they are structured, equipped and trained to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. As part of this transformation the Army will restructure its infantry, taking into account the decision to cease arms plotting and the planned reduction in the number of infantry battalions as a result of the improving situation in Northern Ireland. The manpower freed up from the reductions in infantry battalions will be reinvested across the Army in a rebalancing exercise, to strengthen key enabling capabilities such as signals, logistics, engineers and intelligence and to fill gaps elsewhere in the infantry.
The Army is working on the details of the new structure and recommendations will be made to Ministers for approval before the end of this year.
§ Mr. GarnierTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the interval was between overseas or Northern Ireland operational tours for each infantry battalion since 1 June 1997, and what the(a) nature and (b) date of each op, rational tour on which each infantry battalion was deployed. [187340]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 7 September 2004]: The details of operational tours and tour intervals for each infantry battalion since 1 June 1997 are not held centrally and can only he provided at disproportionate cost. I can, however, provide the details from 1 July 2001 to 1 July 2004 and these can be found in the following table.
Deployments have been defined as unaccompanied unit level operational tours.
1875W
1876W1877W
Regiment Operational tour Interval Operational tour Interval Operational tour Interval Operational tout 1st Battalion. The Grenadier Guards Northern Ireland. November 2001-May 2002
14 months Falkland Islands July 2003-October 2003
— — — — 1st Battalion. The Coldstream Guards — — — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Scots Guards Northern Ireland. May 2001-November 2001 — — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Irish Guards Iraq February-June 2003 5 month Northern Ireland December 2003—March 2004
— — — — 1st Battalion. The Welsh Guards Bosnia April-September 2002 — — — — — — 1 Battalion. The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)
Bosnia. October 2002-March 2003 7 months Iraq November 2003—April 2004 — — — — 1 Battalion. The Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) Falkland Islands. November 2003-April 2004
— — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Kings Own Scottish Borderers Northern Ireland. September 2001-March 2002
14 months Iraq July-October 2003 — — — — 1st Battalion. The Black Watch (The Highland Regiment)
Kosovo July-November 2001
15 months Iraq February-June 2003 12 months Iraq July 2004- — — 1st Battalion. The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons)
Kosovo January-May 2002
10 months Bosnia April-October2003 — — — — 1st Battalion. The Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)
Iraq January-July 2004 — — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)
Kosovo May-December 2002
16 months Iraq April 2004- — — — — 2nd Battalion. The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)
Northern Ireland June-November 2003 — — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Iraq February-June 2003 4 months ISRTF November 2003-May 2004
— — — — 2nd Battalion. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Northern Ireland December 2001-June 2002
10 months Northern Ireland April-August
2003
— — — — 1st Battalion. The Royal Anglian Regiment Afghanistan March-September 2002 — — — — — — 2nd Battalion. The Royal Anglian Regiment Northern Ireland June-December 2002 3 months Afghanistan March-October 2003
— — — — 1st Battalion. The Kings Own Royal Border Regiment Falkland Islands November 2001-February 2002
26 months Northern Ireland June 2004-
1st Battalion. The Kings Regiment Iraq July-November 2003
6 months Kosovo May 2004- — — — — 1* Battalion The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire Bosnia Apri 2004- — — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Green Howards (Alexandra. Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) Afghanistan April 2004- — — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Queens Lancashire Regiment Northern Ireland March-September 2001
21 months Iraq July-October 2003 — — — — 1st Battalion. The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)
Iraq March-fuly 2003 0 months Kosovo July—November 2003 1st Battalion. The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87* and The Ulster Defence Regiment) Northern Ireland June-December 2001 13 months Iraq February-May 2003 — — — — 1st Battalion. The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment — — — — — — — 1st Battalion The Cheshire Regiment Northern Ireland June-December 2002 15 months Iraq April 2004- — — — — 1st Battalion. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers Northern Ireland June-December 2001 28 months Iraq April 2004 — — — — 1st Battalion. The Royal Regiment of Wales (24*741* Foot) Kosovo November 2001-May 2002
16 months Iraq November 2003—April 2004
— — — — 1* Battalion. The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment Northern Ireland December 2002-June 2003
11 months Falkland Islands (Sub Unit) May 2004
— — — —
Regiment Operational tour Interval Operational tour Interval Operational tour Interval Operational tour 1st Battalion. The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29*745* Foot) Northern Ireland May-December 2003 — — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's) Kosovo November 2002-May 2003 — — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Light Infantry Iraq February-June 2003 5 month Iraq November 2003—Apri 2004 — — — — 2nd Battalion. The Light Infantry Falkland Islands November 2002-July 2003 2 months Iraq September-November 2003 — — — — 1st Battalion. The Royal Green Jackets Northern Ireland May-November 2002 10 months Iraq September-December 2003 3 months Northern Ireland March 2004-
— — 2nd Battalion. The Royal Green Jackets Bosnia June-November 2001
— — — — — — 1st Battalion. The Royal Gurkha Rifles Sierra Leone January-July 2002 14 months Bosnia October 2003-April 2004 — — — — 2nd Battalion. The Royal Gurkha Rifles Bosnia November 2001-May 2002 17 months Afghanistan October 2003-April 2004
— — — — 1st Battalion. The Parachute Regiment Iraq February-July 2003 — — — — — — 2nd Battalion. The Parachute Regiment Afghanistan January-March 2002 3 months Falkland Islands (Sub Unit)
July—September 2002
0 months Northern Ireland September 2002-April 2003
7 months Iraq December 2003-March 2004 3rd Battalion. The Parachute Regiment Northern Ireland December 2001-May 2002
0 months Falkland Islands (Sub Unit) May-July 2002
5 months Iraq February-July 2003 10 months Northern Ireland May 2004-
Note: Intervals have been rounded where deployment began other than at the start or end of the month.