Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 24 January 2024 to Questions 10872 and 10873 on Ranger Regiment, the Answers of 24 January 2024 to Questions 10657 and 10658 on Armed Forces: Recruitment, the Answer of 24 January 2024 to Question 10656 on Armed Forces: Discharges, the Answer of 24 January 2024 to Question 10655 on Armed Forces and the Answer of 30 January 2024 to Question 10874 on Defence Equipment: Theft, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Croydon Central with the information requested.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I will respond to the hon. Member shortly.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2024 to Question 10758 on Armed Forces, if he will name the regiments in the (a) Army and (b) Royal Marines which have been (i) disbanded and (ii) merged since 2010.

Answered by James Heappey

Further to the table provided to you in my letter of 7 February, the British Army regiments which have been disbanded since 2010 have been listed below.

As noted in that letter, this information represents single Service estimates based on management information which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. I have attached an updated table to reflect minor discrepancies in the original which were observed during further analysis.

Within the Royal Armoured Corps, the 1^st and 2^nd Royal Tank Regiments were merged to become The Royal Tank Regiment in 2014. The Queen’s Royal Lancers merged with the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales’s) to become the Royal Lancers in 2015. For the Reserves, the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry was placed in suspended animation in 2014. The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry was created in the same year.

Within the Army Air Corps, 9^th Regiment Army Air Corps was disbanded as a front-line regiment in 2016 and re-established as a flying regiment in 2018.

Within the Royal Artillery, 40^th Regiment Royal Artillery was placed into suspended animation in 2012 as was 39^th Regiment in 2015. For the Reserves, 100 (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery was placed in suspended animation in 2014.

The table below has been updated for the Royal Engineers. Within this Corps, 25 Engineer Regiment was disbanded in 2012 as was 38 Engineer Regiment in 2013. 28 Engineer Regiment was disbanded in 2014 but re-established in 2018. For the Reserves, both 72 and 73 Engineer Regiments disbanded in 2014. There were also two hybridised regiments; 101 Engineer Regiment and 33 Engineer Regiment. 101 Engineer Regiment became a Reserve regiment in 2018 and 33 Engineer Regiment became Regular regiment.

Within the Royal Signals, 7 Signal Regiment disbanded in 2012. 15 Signal Regiment was re-formed in 2015 and 13 Signal Regiment in 2020. For the Reserves, 38 Signal Regiment disbanded in 2015.

The table below has been updated for the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME). Within this Regiment, 5 Battalion REME was formed in 2013. In 2015, 10 Battalion REME and 11 Battalion REME merged to become 8 Battalion REME. For the Reserves, 104 Battalion REME was disbanded in 2013. This was then re-established in 2015 along with 105 and 106 Battalions. However, in 2018, 104 Battalion merged with 103, 105 Battalion merged with 101, and 106 Battalion merged with 102.

The table below has been updated for the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC). Within this Corps, 8 Regiment RLC was disbanded in 2012. 12 Logistic Support Regiment was disbanded in 2013. 2 Logistic Support Regiment, 23 and 24 Regiment RLC were disbanded in 2014. 5 Training Regiment RLC disbanded in 2016 and 3 Regiment RLC in 2023. For the Reserves, 88 Postal and Courier Regiment, 155 and 160 Transport Regiments, 166 Supply Regiment and 168 Pioneer Regiment were disbanded in 2014.

Within the Royal Army Medical Corps, 2 Medical Regiment and 33 Field Hospital were disbanded in 2018. 3 Medical Regiment disbanded in 2022 when a number of re-designations took place. For the Reserves, in 2023, 225 (Scottish) Medical Regiment merged with 205 (Scottish) Field Hospital, 253 (Northern Ireland) Medical Regiment merged with 204 (Northern Ireland) Field Hospital, 201 Field Hospital merged with 212 Field Hospital and 207 Field Hospital merged with 208 Field Hospital.

Within the Royal Military Police, 4 and 5 Regiments Royal Military Police disbanded in 2020 and the Special Operations Regiment was formed. The Special Investigations Branch Regiment was subsumed into the Defence Serious Crimes Unit[1] on its formation in 2023.

No Regiments within the Army’s Infantry, Intelligence Corps or Veterinary Corps have been disbanded or merged since 2010.

The Royal Marines is organised into Commando Units rather than Regiments and none have been disbanded since 2010.

British Army Regiments (2010-2023)

[1] The Defence Serious Crimes Unit does not belong to the Army, it is part of the Defence Serious Crime Command (DSCC) within the Ministry of Defence.

[2] RE data for years 2010-2011 and 2014-2017 for Regulars, 2014-2018 for Reserves and additional hybrid regiments has changed since the original answer of 7 Feb.

[3] The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) are organised at unit level into Battalions, rather than Regiments. This represents a distinction in naming convention rather than difference in workforce requirement or operational outputs.

[4] REME data for years 2013, 2015 and 2018 for the Reserves has changed since the original answer of 7 Feb.

[5] RLC data for years 2012-2015 for the Regulars has changed since the original answer of 7 Feb.

Found: Letter dated 02/04/2024 from Andrew Murrison MP to Sarah Jones MP in response to written questions concerning

Found: Letter dated 02/04/2024 from Andrew Murrison MP to Sarah Jones MP in response to written questions concerning