Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) outflow and (b) inflow was for RAF (i) engineer (aerosystems) officers and (ii) aircraft tradesmen in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

The outflow and inflow figures available for RAF Engineer (Aerosystems) officers and aircraft tradesmen, for each financial year, are set out in the tables below:

The inflow targets during this period were adjusted in line with the requirement to reduce the regular strength of the RAF. The reduction in inflow was partly due to the reduced requirement for engineering personnel following the removal of aircraft fleets such as Harrier and Nimrod.

The increase in outflow relates to the redundancy programme. As an organisation which recruits into the lower end of the rank structure, recruiting remains important to maintain a sustainable demographic.