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11 May 2009 : Column 612Wcontinued
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces are learning the German language with support from his Department. [272935]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: In financial year 2008-09, 51 members of the armed forces were being taught German. In financial year 2009-10, 30 members are projected to be receiving this training and in 2010-11 this number is expected to be 52.
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) golden hello, (b) commitment bonus, (c) recruit an oppo bounty and (d) retention financial packages are available to members of the armed forces. [273583]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There is a wide range of recruitment and retention incentives available to members of the armed forces and these include golden hellos, commitment bonuses, recruit bounty schemes and targeted recruitment and retention incentives. Each incentive is tailored to meet specific service requirements.
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much Army rejoin bounty has been paid in respect of each (a) unit and (b) trade in each year since its inception. [273586]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Army Rejoin Bounty was introduced in November 2002 to offer a partial solution to critical manning shortfalls in certain Career Employment Groups. The scheme was then expanded in November 2003 as part of the wider Pinch Point Financial Incentive Scheme. It has been agreed to further expand the scheme under the Exceptional Action Measures to increase the amounts payable and widen the eligibility of those who qualify.
The extensions to the range, value and eligibility of these bounty payments, as well as data coding problems in the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) tool, have resulted in both the historic and current information not being held in the format requested and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many residents of (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the Republic of Ireland enrolled in the UK armed forces in the last six months. [272894]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: It is not possible to answer the question as asked without incurring disproportionate cost. Between 1 October 2008 and 31 March 2009, the Armed Forces Career Office in Belfast recruited five officers and 100 other ranks. However these figures could include non-residents, and Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland residents could well have enlisted elsewhere in the UK. In addition some specialists, such as medical personnel and chaplains, are recruited through other establishments.
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) men and (b) women were recruited into the armed forces in 2007-08. [273312]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The intake to the untrained strength of UK Regular Forces, excluding Gurkhas, full time Reserve personnel, and mobilised reservists, in financial year 2007-08 by gender is provided as follows.
Females2,090(1)
Males19,230(1)
(1) Provisional.
Statistics on personnel recruited into the UK Regular Armed Forces by gender in 2007-08 is available from the UK Defence Statistics (UKDS) 2008 Publication table 2.21, Intake to untrained strength of UK Regular Forces by Service and sex, which can be found at the following link:
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