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Written question asked by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative) on Wednesday, 3 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 December 2008. It was answered by Bob Ainsworth (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 December 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what definition his Department uses of harmony with regard to each of the three services.
Answer

[holding answer 8 December 2008]: Harmony Guidelines are formulated by the single-Services. Each of the services has a slightly different metric that reflects the ethos and expectations of armed forces personnel. The guidelines are kept under regular review in order to ensure that they reflect the operational requirement of the Department but remain balanced with the requirement of training and recuperation, including leave. Part of recuperation considers retention issues and the assessment of the work/life dynamic is of particular concern. Harmony is split into two related but separate requirements: unit harmony, that primarily relates to force structures and commitments; and individual harmony, that relates to the effect of all separation on individual service personnel.The Harmony Guidelines are given in the following table.

Unit Harmony Guideline Individual Harmony Guideline
Royal Navy Force planners assume that RN and RM units will, over a three year period, spend a maximum of 60 per cent. of their time deployed and 40 per cent. of their time in their base port The Royal Navy sets Separated Service as a maximum of 660 days Separated Service in a rolling three year period
Army The Army uses FORM (Formation Operational Readiness Mechanism) to plan for Army units to conduct a six month operational tour followed by an interval of 24 months The Army tries to adhere to 415 days Separated Service in a 30 month rolling period
Royal Air Force On the whole, the RAF deploys personnel on individual basis with the RAF Regt being the major exception. The RAF utilises the Operational Deployment Guideline to plan for personnel and units to spend four months on deployed operations followed by 16 months at base The Royal Air Force has a Separated Service planning target of 280 days in a 24-month rolling period

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
485 c48-9W; 240495
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Conditions of employment Armed forces Deployment
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk