§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Statement by the Lord Bach on 16 December 2004 (HL Deb, cols. 1444–45), which categories of the Armed Forces are "key specialist capabilities" which require "enhancement" in order "to meet the demands of multiple, concurrent and … expeditionary deployments across the full spectrum of military tasks", showing in respect of each such category
- (a) the numbers of the present establishment;
- (b) the numbers of those at present in place;
- (c) the proportion of those at present in place drawn from the reserves;
- (d) the target establishment planned when the measures outlined in the Statement have been completed;
- (e) the dates when the target establishment is expected to be attained; and
- (f) the proportion of the target establishment they expect to be drawn from the reserves. [H L689]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)As part of the recently announced plans to restructure the infantry, the following arms and services will be enhanced in order to ensure that United Kingdom forces have the key enabling capabilities required to meet the demands of the envisaged future operating environment: Royal Engineers, Royal Signals, Royal Logistics Corps, and Intelligence Corps. These arms and services are listed below with:
their establishment as at 1 December 2004;
their anticipated enhanced establishment (note that this figure is provisional—the Army is continuing to work on the detail) following implementation, intended by April 2008; and
strength (excluding full-time reserve service personnel and Ghurka) as at 1 December 2004:
Arm/service Establishment Enhancement (provisional figure) Strength Royal Engineers 10,020 +120 8,860 Royal Signals 8,550 +371 8,840 Royal Logistic Corps 16,390 +396 15,560 Intelligence Corps 1,840 +327 1,400 As at 1 December 2004, the number of mobilised reserves and full-time reserve service (FTRS) personnel serving with each arm and service, in addition to the strength figures given above, are as follows: 46WA
Arm/Service Mobilised reserves FTRS Royal Engineers 110 30 Royal Signals 170 50 Royal Logistic Corps 380 80 Intelligence Corps 40 20 Mobilised reserves and FTRS personnel do not count against the full-time establishments for the arms and services. The target establishments for FIRS personnel in these arms and services following the implementation of the planned structural changes are still being worked through. Equally, the number of reservists mobilised in the future to serve with these arms and services will be entirely contingent upon the prevailing security climate.