asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving officers, and of what rank, receive basic pay in excess of £7,000.

The total number of serving officers receiving basic pay in excess of £7,000 a year in each of the three Services is as follows:

Royal Navy and Royal Marines	289
Army	459
RAF	282
Total	1,030

These are officers of the rank of Captain RN—with at least six years' seniority—Colonel RM, Brigadier, Air Commodore and above; medical and dental officers of the rank of Surgeon Commander, Lieutenant Colonel and Wing Commander—with at least eight years' seniority—and above; Army and RAF legal officers of the rank of Colonel and Group Captain—with at least six years' seniority—and above; and a few others. Basic pay has been taken as including X factor but excluding threshold payments.