Since 2002 the key improvements that have been made have been designed to reduce the risk to the welfare and wellbeing of recruits and trainees. These include:
a revised Supervisory Care Policy that mandates that all commanding officers have a Supervisory Care Directive underpinned by a Commander’s Risk Assessment;
the opening in June 2007 of the Army Recruiting and Training Division Staff Leadership School which is dedicated to instructor training;
improved training for instructors which, since October 2007, is accredited to meet the National Standard required of those delivering work based training in the Learning and Skills Sector;
improved care and management of those deemed to be ‘at risk’; and,
a revised ‘Under 18’ policy, which provides comprehensive guidance to commanding officers as to how the care of personnel under 18 is to be managed.
The statistical information requested is not held centrally, but is being collated. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Joan Humble:
I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 12 December 2007, (Official Report, column 609W) about the ratio between Officers, Other Ranks and recruits.
I am unable to provide the information in the format requested as the data have not been recorded in a consistent format over the period and different elements of the data have not been recorded at all. However, I am able to provide a snapshot of numbers in November each year since 2003 which provides an appreciation of the numbers involved. It should be noted that not all permanent staff posts are training posts and therefore the numbers cannot be taken as representative of supervisory ratios.
The information is provided in the attached Annex A.
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Off ORs Rec Off ORs Rec Off ORs Rec Off ORs Rec Off ORs Rec SCHINF (Catterick) 118 607 1,338 111 570 807 116 630 975 120 812 1,270 120 599 1,641 DCLPA (Deepcut)1 127 1,130 116 818 128 826 131 846 121 862 ATR(P) 55 269 708 59 274 717 59 274 628 63 286 812 68 278 1,175 RSA 4 49 232 4 55 203 4 55 177 4 55 200 4 55 154 RMAS 156 468 769 124 458 719 130 458 730 132 490 700 103 444 797 RSME-Const Engr Sch 49 281 480 49 281 591 49 281 515 49 281 510 49 281 946 RSME-Cbt Engr Sch 39 281 1141 39 281 633 39 281 577 39 281 687 39 281 — AFC(H) 69 218 1,210 67 224 1,207 67 213 1,150 69 226 1,171 65 222 1,130 ARMCEN 37 218 290 39 248 107 34 243 202 37 240 221 37 260 303 ATR(B) 43 195 737 43 185 553 40 179 695 39 197 650 39 183 610 ATR(W) 31 133 416 30 139 318 30 139 423 29 131 475 29 140 569 SAAvN 57 109 197 55 131 168 54 127 150 54 128 150 56 125 133 Key: Off = Officers, ORs = Other Ranks, Rec = Recruits Key: SCHINF = School of Infantry, DCLPA = Defence College of Logistics and Personnel Administration, ATR(P) = Army Training Regiment (Pirbright), RSA = Royal School of Artillery, RMAS = Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, RSME = Royal School of Military Engineering, Const Engr Sch = Construction Engineer School, Cbt Engr Sch = Combat Engineer School, AFC(H) = Army Foundation College (Harrogate), ARMCEN = Armour Centre, ATR(B) = Army Training Regiment (Bassingbourn), ATR(W) = Army Training Regiment (Winchester), SAAvn = School of Army Aviation. 1 Figures provided by DCLPA are for those Officers and Other Ranks in duty of care roles in 25 Training Support Regiment at Deepcut. Notes: 1. Unless stated otherwise Officers and Other Ranks figures will include Headquarters staff. Not all permanent staff posts are training or duty of care posts, and the numbers given cannot be taken as being representative of supervisory ratios. In addition, there will also be civilian staff working at each establishment, some of whom will have direct training roles. 2. The figures show the ratios as at November in each year. Recruit numbers fluctuate over the course of a year. 3. Many of these training establishments will also provide career training to members of the Field Army. The Recruit figures shown only include those under basic training (phase 1) or trade training (phase 2).