Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 4 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 December 2008. It was answered by Lord Beamish (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 December 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Manpower

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel there are, broken down by (a) service, (b) rank, (c) age and (d) sex.

Answer: Information on service and sex can be found in table 1 of Tri Service Publication (TSP) 1—Total Strength of UK Regular Forces by gender. TSP 1 is published on monthly basis and the latest information as at 1 October 2008 can be found at:"http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/apps/publications/pubViewFile.php?content=3l&date=2008-ll-27&type=html&PublishTime=09:30:00"Information on rank can be found in table 1 of Tri Service Publication (TSP) 9—UK Regular Forces Rank Structure. TSP 9 is published on quarterly basis and the latest information as at 1 October 2008 can be found at:"http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/apps/publications/pubViewFile.php?content=90.15&date=2008-12-03&type=html&PublishTime=09:30:00"Information on age can be found in table 1 of Tri Service Publication (TSP) 8—UK Regular Forces by age and sex. TSP 8 is published on an annual basis and the latest information as at 1 April 2008 can be found at:"http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=48&pubType=l&thiscontent=80&PublishTime =09:30:00&date=20080529&disText=01%20April%202008&from =listing&topDate=2008-05-29"

Secondary information