Written question asked by Liam Fox (Conservative) on Wednesday, 16 December 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 January 2010. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Thursday, 7 January 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Training

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his statement of 15 December 2009, Official Report, columns 801-04, on the future defence programme, (1) which training exercises will be cancelled;

Answer: Given our current commitments, we must ensure that our core activity is focused on preparing our soldiers for the Department's main effort, success on operations in Afghanistan. Combined with the pressures that the Defence budget has faced, this means prioritising our resources to these critical activities, and reductions in some non-operational specific training. Our training, and associated equipment fleets, are being managed to this effect.We are working through detailed implementation. But no training for current deployments will be cut. An example where we could expect reductions, however, is in the levels of training provided for heavy armour, such as Challenger 2 tanks which have not been deployed in Afghanistan.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 503 c489-90W; 309240
Session: 2009-10
Related items: Future Defence Programme
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Commons
Subjects: Armed forces Training
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk