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25 Jan 2007 : Column 1935W—continued

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for further armed forces recruitment drives aimed at the Muslim community. [117173]

Derek Twigg [holding answer 22 January 2007]: The armed forces strive to engage ethnic minority groups, including those in the Muslim community, to raise awareness of armed forces’ careers and to improve representation of the Muslim community in the ranks. Within this effort the services undertake a wide variety of outreach initiatives specifically aimed at encouraging more young people from the Muslim community to consider a career in the armed forces. These activities are undertaken at local level by dedicated recruitment teams or by service establishments based in or near the community. Examples include:

On 20 January, the Royal Navy's (RN) Diversity Action Team invited a group of young people from the Small Heath area of Birmingham to take part in an RN Introduction Day. The Team has been working with a sub branch of the UK Islamic Mission called the Urban Development Foundation as part of a five month ethnic minority recruiting drive focusing on the Small Heath and Handsworth area of the city.

The Army’s participation in Eid celebrations in Bradford and Nottingham and a visit to an East London Muslim community and Mosque.

25 Jan 2007 : Column 1936W

The RAF’s work with the Pakistani community in Leeds.

The armed forces have for the past three years sponsored an award at the annual Muslim News Awards and will again sponsor this year’s awards.

On 16 January 2007, the Chief of the Defence staff met Dr. Abdul Bari, the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) to discuss a series of issues relating to Muslims in the armed forces. In that same week the Second Sea Lord hosted members of the MCB and the editor of The Muslim Weekly on a visit to Plymouth.

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers from Northern Ireland are serving in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq. [110272]

Mr. Ingram: Data on the residential location of armed forces personnel is not held centrally in databases of individual records and it is therefore not possible to give figures by place of residence.

Location statistics may be compiled based on posted location or deployed location. Posted location is where an individual is permanently based. Deployed location is where an individual is physically located at a particular point in time and is typically used for short tours of duty. Deployment data are not centrally held.

The number of regular armed forces personnel posted to Afghanistan is available in Tri Service Publication 6, “Global Location of UK Regular Forces” (TSP 6). Copies are available in the House of Commons Library and are also at:

www.dasa.mod.uk.

Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expected expenditure on pay is for all army (a) officers and (b) other ranks in 2006-07. [113750]

Derek Twigg: The total expenditure, to the end of November 2006, on army pay for officers was £471 million and other ranks £1,563 million. We expect the expenditure for the remainder of the financial year to be consistent with the costs incurred to date.

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2006, Official Report, column 605W, on army recruitment, what the outflow was from the Regular Army for each of the last 12 months broken down by (a) rank of officer and (b) other ranks. [114632]

Derek Twigg: The following tables show the outflow to civil life of trained and untrained Regular Army officers and other ranks by rank for each of the last 12 months:

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25 Jan 2007 : Column 1938W

Officers
During	Major General and above	Brigadier	Colonel	( 1) Lieutenant Colonel	Major	Captain	( 2) Lieutenant	Officer Designate	Total
November 2005	—	—	—	10	30	10	—	10	70
December 2005	—	—	10	10	20	30	10	—	70
January 2006	—	—	10	10	30	20	—	20	90
February 2006	—	—	—	10	20	20	—	—	60
March 2006	—	—	10	10	10	20	—	10	60
April 2006	—	—	—	20	40	50	—	30	160
May 2006	—	—	—	10	30	40	—	—	80
June 2006	—	—	10	20	80	30	10	10	160
July 2006	—	—	—	10	40	40	—	20	110
August 2006	—	—	—	10	40	40	10	20	120
September 2006	—	—	10	20	40	40	20	10	130
October 2006	—	—	—	20	40	30	10	—	100
Total	10	20	50	160	410	380	70	120	1,220
(1 )Includes Lieutenant Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel Special List (2) Includes Lieutenant and 2nd Lieutenant “—“ represents zero or rounded to zero.

Soldiers
During	Warrant Officer Class 1	Warrant Officer Class 2	Staff Sergeant	Sergeant	Corporal	Lance Corporal	Private	Total
November 2005	20	50	60	60	110	140	620	1,060
December 2005	20	60	40	40	70	110	550	880
January 2006	40	60	70	80	140	160	650	1,200
February 2006	20	50	50	70	120	150	660	1,130
March 2006	20	60	50	80	110	130	600	1,050
April 2006	40	60	60	<>0	110	140	680	1,160
May 2006	20	60	40	60	110	130	720	1,150
June 2006	30	50	40	60	100	160	730	1,170
July 2006	40	50	60	60	110	120	660	1,100
August 2006	30	50	60	70	100	150	650	1,120
September 2006	40	40	50	70	100	160	650	1,110
October 2006	30	50	40	60	110	120	820	1,230
Total	340	650	620	780	1,290	1,680	7,990	13,350
Notes: Figures show all outflow from UK Regular Army Forces to Civil Life including recalled reservists on release and outflow to the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment. The figures exclude outflow of Illegal Absentees i.e. those personnel removed from the reported strength of the Army having been deemed long-term illegally absent. Therefore these figures will differ slightly from those published in some official statistics i.e. Tri Service Publication 1. UK Regular Forces includes Nursing services and excludes Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists. It includes trained and untrained personnel. All data have been rounded to the nearest 10. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. Numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

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