Armed Forces: Manpower Mr. Jenkin To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many (a) officers and (b) personnel in other ranks in each regular infantry and Royal Marine battalion were unfit for duty at the latest date for which figures are available; (2) what the (a) required and (b) actual trained strength is of each (i) regular infantry and (ii) Royal Marine battalion. Mr. Kevan Jones Unfit for duty has been interpreted as medically unfit to perform any duty. Personnel unfit for duty in their primary role but who can perform a role in an alternative capacity are not included in the following tables. The figures given include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen. Separate figures for infantry officers and soldiers are not held centrally. As at 1 October, the figures requested for the infantry are provided as follows. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Division |Unit |Required strength|Actual strength|Number unfit for duty| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Guards |1 Grenadier Guards |632 |586 |4 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1 Coldstream Guards |626 |606 |6 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1 Scots Guards |753 |665 |1 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1 Irish Guards |633 |629 |6 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1 Welsh Guards |626 |608 |12 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |SCOTS |1 SCOTS |630 |556 |2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 SCOTS |627 |518 |3 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |3 SCOTS |630 |625 |11 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |4 SCOTS |686 |584 |1 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |5 SCOTS |657 |542 |2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Queens |1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment |755 |722 |2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment |671 |600 |2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1 Royal Regt Fusiliers |660 |573 |6 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 Royal Regt Fusiliers |626 |548 |13 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1 Royal Anglian |713 |734 |9 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 Royal Anglian |629 |628 |2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Kings |1 LANCS |757 |721 |8 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 LANCS |612 |622 |5 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1 YORKS incl. Gurkha Reinforcement Company 3 |686 |605 |2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 YORKS |623 |493 |2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |3 YORKS |751 |608 |15 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Prince of Wales |1 Mercian incl. Gurkha Reinforcement Company 2|731 |648 |2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 Mercian |623 |614 |10 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |3 Mercian |678 |606 |4 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1 Royal Welsh |623 |611 |4 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 Royal Welsh |751 |687 |6 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |RIFLES |1 RIFLES |623 |712 |5 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 RIFLES |623 |730 |35 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |3 RIFLES |623 |662 |12 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |4 RIFLES |711 |752 |8 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |5 RIFLES |752 |770 |3 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Royal Irish |1 Royal Irish |650 |586 |9 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |PARA |2 PARA |650 |624 |14 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |3 PARA |650 |625 |7 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Royal Gurkha Rifles|1 Royal Gurkha Rifles |643 |619 |8 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2 Royal Gurkha Rifles |758 |658 |4 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to the battalions shown above there are three incremental guards companies which are primarily for public duties but which can also be used to augment the other guards battalions as required; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Unit |Required strength|Actual strength|Number unfit for duty| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Nijmegen Coy Grenadier Gds|108 |107 |1 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |7 Coy Coldstream Gds |108 |97 |1 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |F Coy Scots Guards |110 |106 |4 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The figures in both tables include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen. Figures for Royal Marine Commandos units are shown in the table below. Due to changes in the way in which the Royal Navy records its sick personnel, it is not possible to identify the number of Royal Marine personnel who are currently unfit to perform any duty. -------------------------------------------------------------------- |Unit | |Required strength|Actual strength| -------------------------------------------------------------------- |40 Commando |Officers |1703 |33 | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Other ranks|1— |626 | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |42 Commando |Officers |1703 |37 | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Other ranks|1— |617 | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |45 Commando |Officers |1703 |33 | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Other Ranks|1— |637 | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 Represents a brace| | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------