asked the Secretary of State for Defence, to what extent the recruiting trends have led him to revise his stated target of 181,100 all ranks in the Army by the end of the year; and if he will make a statement.

The Army has steadily grown in size this year and we are within two per cent. of our target. The rate of recruiting has, however, been slower than we had hoped and on present trends we shall not reach the target until next year.