asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of advertising for recruitment of Forces officers in the last 12 months to the latest available date; how many recruits were made; and what is the average cost of advertising per recruit.

The cost of advertising for officers and the number of officer recruits in the financial year 1973–74 and the comparable information so far available in the current financial year is as follows:

Officers	Expenditure on advertising Central Office of Information and Ministry of Defence Votes Actual 1973–74	Number of officers recruited 1973–74
	£
RN/RM	441,160	553
Army	403,250	979
RAF	399,590	705
Tri-Service Totals	1,244,000	2,237

Officers	1974–75 Up to 31st January 1975	1974–75 Up to 31st January 1975
	£
RN/RM	236,800	491
Army	382,300	898
RAF	280,600	488
Tri-Service Totals	899,700	1,877

It can be misleading to associate recruiting results in any one period directly with the level of advertising in the same period, and I will write to my hon. Friend on this point.