Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Luke (Conservative). It was answered by Baroness Crawley (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 January 2008.

Armed Forces: Harmony Guidelines

Question: How many soldiers were deployed on overseas operations in the course of the year 2007 in breach of the harmony guidelines; and what proportion of the trained strength of the Army this figure represents.

Answer: My Lords, perhaps I could take this opportunity to send our very best wishes to the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever, and wish him a speedy recovery. In monitoring compliance with harmony guidelines, we do not distinguish between deployments and other causes of separated service. As at 30 September 2007, 10,110 Army personnel had exceeded the guideline of 415 days’ separated service in the previous 30 months. This represents 10.3 per cent of the trained strength of the Army.

Secondary information