Armed Forces: Desertion

Nick Harvey
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) rank, (b) age, (c) sex, (d) regiment and (e) last theatre of operation is of those service personnel classed as being absent without leave and who have not yet been unaccounted for.

Mr. Ingram
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, as at 25 June 2007, the numbers of personnel who have gone absent without leave from the services since 1 January 2003 and remain so are:

----------------
|Service|Number|
----------------
|Army   |960   |
----------------
|RAF    |10    |
----------------
|Navy   |15    |
----------------


These figures are rounded to the nearest five. They are subject to daily changes as individuals return to their units.