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Written question asked by Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 27 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 2 November 2009. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Monday, 2 November 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Territorial Army: Scotland

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Territorial Army (TA) units there are in Scotland; how many members are in each such unit; how many members of TA units based in Scotland (a) have been deployed to (i) Afghanistan and (ii) Iraq in each of the last five years and (b) have received military medals.
Answer

There are 15 Territorial Army (TA) units in Scotland and the number of members in each of those units as at 29 October 2009 is shown in the following table:

TA Unit Number of members
105 Regiment The Royal Artillery 285
71 Engineer Regiment 197
6 Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 266
7 Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 384
Scottish Transport Regiment 259
225 General Service Medical Regiment 365
Headquarters 51 Brigade 74
32 Signal Regiment 239
Regional Headquarters and 243 Provost Company (5 Royal Military Police) 49
2 (Independent) Signal Squadron 98
205 Field Hospital (Volunteers) 149
153 Workshop Company The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (102 Battalion The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) 53
52 Military Intelligence Company (5 Military Intelligence Battalion) 50
15 Company (4 Battalion The Parachute Regiment) 79
Queens Own Yeomanry 137

The number of TA members from Scottish based TA units deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in each of the last five years is shown in the following tables:

Deployed to Iraq
Number
TA Unit 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
105 Regiment The Royal Artillery 42 5 5 0 0
71 Engineer Regiment 0 1 0 1 1
6 Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 13 4 0 0 0
7 Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 25 104 4 4 32
Scottish Transport Regiment 0 2 4 0 1
225 General Service Medical Regiment 0 2 0 2 0
Headquarters 51 Brigade 0 0 0 0 0
32 Signal Regiment 5 5 5 5 5
Regional Headquarters and 243 Provost Company (5 Royal Military Police) 9 9 9 9 9
2 (Independent) Signal Squadron 2 2 2 2 2
205 Field Hospital (Volunteers) 75 0 0 0 0
153 Workshop Company The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (102 Battalion The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) 1 1 1 1 1
52 Military Intelligence Company (5 Military Intelligence Battalion) 7 3 1 1 0
15 Company (4 Battalion The Parachute Regiment) 25 1 0 1 0
Queens Own Yeomanry 1 2 0 1 0
Deployed to Afghanistan
Number
TA Unit 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
105 Regiment Royal Artillery 0 0 11 12 0
71 Engineer Regiment 0 1 0 1 20
6 Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 0 2 37 1 3
7 Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 1 2 0 11 0
Scottish Transport Regiment 0 0 4 0 1
225 General Service Medical Regiment 0 0 1 1 20
Headquarters 51 Brigade 0 0 0 0 0
32 Signal Regiment 5 5 5 5 5
Regional Headquarters and 243 Provost Company (5 Royal Military Police) 9 9 9 9 9
2 (Independent) Signal Squadron 2 2 2 2 2
205 Field Hospital (Volunteers) 0 0 0 0 0
153 Workshop Company The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (102 Battalion The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) 1 1 1 1 1
52 Military Intelligence Company (5 Military Intelligence Battalion) 0 1 2 3 5
15 Company (4 Battalion The Parachute Regiment) 0 6 4 16 0
Queens Own Yeomanry 0 0 1 12 7

The Medals Office does not record whether an individual comes from a regular or TA unit when issuing military campaign medals. There is a medal which is specifically issued to TA personnel, the 'Volunteer Reserve Service Medal' which is the equivalent of the 'Long Service and Good Conduct Medal' issued to regular soldiers. However, the work required to cross-reference individual names against units would incur a disproportionate cost.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
498 c652-3W; 296852
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Scotland Territorial Army
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk