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11 May 2009 : Column 608W—continued
(b) It is not possible to provide numbers of foreign nationals who served in the UK armed forces but had left by the end of 2008.
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 2 February 2009, Official Report, columns 33-34WS, on Army nationality policy, whether he has received representations from other governments on the employment of their citizens in the UK armed forces. [273588]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Department has not received any representation from other governments on the employment of their citizens in the UK armed forces since this statement was made.
Armed Forces: Labour Turnover
Sir Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Coventry South of 9 February 2009,
Official Report, column 1531W, on service personnel: retention, which pinch point trades his Department is monitoring; what the exit rates of such trades are; what steps his Department is taking to improve retention and recruitment in these areas; and if he will make a statement. [273589]
Mr. Kevan Jones: All pinch point trades are monitored closely by the single services and considerable effort is expended in reducing the impact on these groups of people through careful management and financial incentives to encourage them to stay in the armed forces.
Recruitment in to all three services has improved over the past few months, primarily as a result of targeted national, regional and local level recruiting campaigns. There has also been a significant increase in expressions of interest through the Armed Forces Recruitment Offices and through on-line applications, which is attributed in part to the current economic circumstances and rising unemployment. Taking the armed forces as a whole,
retention rates are stable and we have seen no sudden outflow of personnel. There is real concern, however, that in some important areas exit rates are too high. These areas are continuously reviewed and the Department has put in place a wide range of measures to improve recruitment and retention in the armed forces including: career management, improvement to conditions of service and work/life balance, extensions to normal engagement lengths, commitment bonuses and targeted Financial Retention Initiatives. Examples of schemes and incentives in place are: Golden Hellos, Commitment Bonuses, Recruit Bounty Schemes and targeted Recruitment and Retention Incentives. Each incentive is tailored to meet specific Service requirements.
The following tables show the pinch point trades liability, shortfalls, outflow and voluntary outflow (VO) in real numbers and percentage figures for quarter 3 of the Operational and Manning Pinch Point statistics. These are the latest available figures.
| Royal Navy | ||||||
| Shortfall | ||||||
| Liability | Number | Percentage | Inflow | Outflow | VO (percentage) | |
| Notes: 1. Outflow is to January 2009. 2. Lt X SM IWC Qualified and SQEP and Lt X SM Advanced Warfare Course Qualified(SQEP) are the same group and are 16 in total but they are two separate OPPs. 3. SQEP means Suitably Qualified and Experience Personnel, i.e. have the skills to do a particular job and in case of SM if AWC are qualified to be a Watch Leader. | ||||||
| Army | ||||||
| Shortfall | ||||||
| Liability | Number | Percentage | Inflow | Outflow | VO (percentage) | |
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