The MOD collates, on a quarterly basis, management information on the number of Service personnel ‘fit for task’, which provides a measure of the medical fitness of all trained armed forces personnel. These figures are broken down into three categories: Medically Fully Fit, Medically Not Fully Fit and Medically Unfit. It should be noted that the majority of those personnel who fall under the category of Medically Not Fully Fit remain fit enough to work in some capacity and therefore continue to make a contribution to operational effectiveness, often within theatres of operation.
Prior to 1 April 2006 information was collected by the single services for internal management purposes, but was not required to be reported centrally in a standardised format. It would therefore incur disproportionate cost to retrieve this information and collate it into comparable figures.
Medically fit for task figures from the first quarter of 2006-07 through to the second quarter of 2007-08 can be found in the following table. Personnel numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, and percentages rounded to one decimal point. For information on the period covering the third quarter of 2007-08 through to the second quarter of 2008-09 I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 20 January 2009, Official Report, columns 1262-64W.
Numbers Percentage of Trained Strength Numbers Percentage of Trained Strength Numbers Percentage of Trained Strength 2006-07 Quarter 1 Fully Fit for Task 33,450 94.5 80,920 83.7 42,440 90.2 Not Fully Fit for Task 1,790 5.1 15,250 15.8 4,390 9.3 Unfit for Task 160 0.5 480 220 0.5 Quarter 2 Fully Fit for Task 33,540 94.8 80,190 83.4 42,440 90.2 Not Fully Fit for Task 1,720 4.9 15,470 16.1 4,390 9.3 Unfit for Task 130 0.4 540 0.6 220 0.5 Quarter 31 Fully Fit for Task — — 79,810 83.2 39,230 89.4 Not Fully Fit for Task — — 15,530 16.1 4,460 10.2 Unfit for Task — — 560 0.6 200 0.5 Quarter 4 Fully Fit for Task 31,330 90.4 79,040 82.7 38,730 89.7 Not Fully Fit for Task 3,170 9.2 16,080 16.8 4,450 10.3 Unfit for Task 120 0.4 480 0.5 190 0.4 2007-08 Quarter 12 Fully Fit for Task 31,330 90.5 — — 38,730 89.3 Not Fully Fit for Task 3,170 9.2 — — 4,450 10.3 Unfit for Task 120 0.4 — — 190 0.4 Quarter 22 Fully Fit for Task 31,279 90.1 — — 37,250 89.1 Not Fully Fit for Task 3,315 9.6 — — 4,360 10.4 Unfit for Task 120 0.4 — — 190 0.5 1Figures for the Naval Service not available due to change over from legacy systems to the Joint Personnel Administration system. 2Since 2007 the Army have collated figures for their deployable elements only not their total trained strength.
Since 1 April 2007 the Army has collated quarterly figures for its deployable elements only, rather than for its total trained strength. For this reason the figures are not comparable to those provided by the Navy and RAF in the same period. The Army's deployability returns provide a snapshot, on a specific day, of the deployability of Army personnel broken down into the following categories: fully deployable; limited deployability (LD); personnel unable to deploy (PUD). Many of those personnel classed as LD can and will deploy to operational theatres, likewise PUDs will be able to undertake non-deployed duties.
The following table provides the figures for calendar years 2007-08, personnel numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, and percentages rounded to one decimal point. It should be noted that since September 2008 the deployability return has extended the categories it collects against with the intention of providing greater granularity to limited deployability and PUD data. As result the September and December returns report against different metrics which may account for the increase in numbers.
Fully Deployable LD for Medical Reason PUD for Medical Reasons 2007 1 March Numbers 54,960 7,390 3,630 Percentage of Deployable Strength 78.4 10.5 5.2 1 June Numbers 55,030 7,340 3,700 Percentage of Deployable Strength 78.5 10.5 5.3 1 September Numbers 53,860 6,980 3,640 Percentage of Deployable Strength 78.7 10.2 5.4 1 December Numbers 53,390 6,550 3,650 Percentage of Deployable Strength 79.2 9.7 5.4 2008 1 March Numbers 56,050 7,020 3,810 Percentage of Deployable Strength 79.8 10.0 5.4 1 June Numbers 55,980 6,910 3,610 Percentage of Deployable Strength 80.3 9.9 5.2 1 September Numbers 56,570 8,690 3,790 Percentage of Deployable Strength 77.7 11.9 5.2 1 December Numbers 57,700 7,910 3,910 Percentage of Deployable Strength 78.8 10.8 5.3