Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) men and (b) women took Extended Special Unpaid Leave from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in each year since 2010.

Members of the RFA are given the opportunity to apply for Extended Special Unpaid Leave in the form of a career break. Such breaks enable employees to take an unpaid absence from the workplace for more than three months up to a maximum of five years to fulfil caring responsibilities, study, cover a period of Reservist Mobilisation or to take a break from paid employment.

The following table contains numbers of RFA personnel who have taken Extended Special Unpaid Leave for each year since 2010.

Note: Any figure less than 5 have been replaced by ~. This is in accordance with the Data Protection Act.