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Army: Officers

Volume 464: debated on Wednesday 17 October 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officers in the Army are surplus to requirement; and what plans there are to reduce this number. (158372)

Officer strength is measured against the April 2008 Regular Army Liability (RAL), and on 1 March 2007, a surplus of 628 was recorded. However, the RAL only accounts for permanent posts, and there are currently more than 1,000 temporary posts for officers in addition to the RAL total for other requirements including support to operations. Therefore, even taking account of the RAL surplus, the total officer requirement is not being met and, as a result, there are currently no plans to reduce officer numbers.