Proceeding contribution from Adam Ingram (Labour) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 23 March 2006. It occurred during Ministerial statement on Territorial Army Rebalancing.
Territorial Army Rebalancing
He has. Obviously in the Ministry of Defence, we are in a cost-cutting mood and we cannot quite match that. If the hon. Gentleman has anything spare in his parliamentary allowance, perhaps he could help. I apologise for what happened. The letter will include a colour-coded copy, which will assist him. The core of the key points that the hon. Gentleman raised was about whether we were certain, or satisfied to some degree, that what we announced would be delivered. If we did not restructure or rebalance, we would have a problem, because there would be an incoherence in relation to what we are now demanding in terms of the future infantry structure and Army structure, and the TA would feel somehow second class. Over recent years, it has become obvious that that mood—if it ever existed in parts of our forces—does not exist any more. On my visits, it constantly strikes me, that, very early on in operational theatres, people stop asking others whether they are TA because it is impossible to tell. They are very much an integrated part—and even more so with the rebalancing. I gave the improvement in recruitment. We have got to make sure that that is continued. There can be no guarantee on that. We are competing in a very difficult environment, because of high employment and other opportunities, and we will continue to do so. However, there is the fact that we are bringing the TA more into the Regular Army structure and that there will be single command at the top end in relation to how we recruit both for the Regular Army and the TA. Someone who expresses an interest in joining the forces, but may not want to join the regulars would immediately be notified of their opportunities in the TA and vice versa. That co-ordinated approach should help recruitment. I was not saying that there was less need for medical staff. I was saying that medical support—the Defence Medical Services—was dramatically cut during the last Tory Administration. We are recovering from that legacy. It takes time to build things up. We are dealing with a massive increase in employment in the NHS, which relates to people going into the medical services. The size of the medical corps in the TA will match the real position. There is no point in having a large establishment that we will not need in a realistic assessment. Increasingly, there is a demand, but increasingly it will be met from the regulars, supplemented by the TA. I am talking about balancing those resources. On stretch and overstretch, we have never hidden the fact that some areas are under pressure. We are going through the future Army structure rebalancing and carrying out the TA rebalancing to meet those demands and to ensure that we have better balance. I am advised that there are colour copies of the tables in the Vote Office now. If anyone wants to leave and not ask me a question, I will understand.
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 444 c432-3
- Session
- 2005-06
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Commons chamber
- Subjects
- Army Deployment Staff Training Reserve forces Reorganisation Territorial Army
- Link
- View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk
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