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HEADQUARTERS AIR COMMAND Air Command Secretariat

Spitfire Block High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP14 4UE Mr Keith Frost

[by email] request-135129- [email protected] request-135131- [email protected] request-135357- [email protected] Our Ref: 25-10-2012-105424-003 25-10-2012-110824-004 request-136165- 26-10-2012-151027-009 [email protected] 31-10-2012-161435-013

21 November 2012

Dear Mr Frost,

Thank you for your four emails between 25 and 31 October 2012 requesting information about RAF Regiment conditions of service, statistics relating to career progression and pay bands for different ranks and trades. These have been considered as requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 and I have been asked to reply.

I am writing to confirm that we hold information on the subjects you have requested. Although you submitted these requests separately, your requests contain a common theme; namely, career progression within the RAF Regiment and pay. In these circumstances Section 12(4) of the FOIA allows a public authority to aggregate separate requests into one request, as such, your four requests will be handled as one.

You raised a number of questions and statements you wanted clarification on. I will respond to these in turn.

1. a) Could you please confirm to me that the RAF Regiment recruits share the same Conditions of Service as other RAF Ground Airmen and Airwomen.

I can confirm that RAF regiment personnel share the same Terms and Conditions of Service as other RAF Trades. However, RAF Regiment personnel are the only trade within the RAF to include the LCpl rank. Whilst this does not change their Terms and Conditions of Service in

comparison to other Service personnel, they are required to achieve one more rank before promotion to Cpl.

1. b) That they are initially recruited on a 9 year engagement which may be extended to 12 and 15 years reckonable service on application.

RAF Regiment personnel are initially recruited on a 9 year engagement but this may be extended to 12 years and from 12 years to 15 years on application.

1. c) The prospect of extended service is related to an applicant’s grade at presentation to the Personnel Selection Board.

Applications for an extension of service (9 to 12 and 12 to 15 years) are considered by a Further Service Board. Further Service Boards take into account a number of factors when considering Further Service applications. These factors include the applicants Overall Performance Grade (as awarded in their Annual Appraisal), the Flt Cdr’s narrative, disciplinary history and current Forecast Manning Distribution Levels. All these factors are considered during the decision making process.

1. d) Extension of service beyond 15 years is related to promotion.

Further Service beyond 15 years is linked to promotion in order to ensure retention in the Service and the offer of balanced careers to the best personnel available.

1. e) are offered a 22 engagement and substantive Sergeants will be considered for a secondary re-engagement to 30 years and Flight Sergeants will be considered for a secondary re-engagement to the age of 55 years.

Please refer to the separate enclosure at Annex A, which is an extract from the ‘Royal Air Force Air Publication (AP) 3376 Vol 1 – Terms and Conditions of Service for Airmen of the Royal Air Force’; regarding the offer of Primary and Secondary re-engagement on promotion. However, there are associated criteria that must be met by the individual before the offer is made. These associated criteria are found within AP 3376 Vol 1, Chapter 2, paragraph 7. The enclosure at Annex B is the relevant extract from that document.

1. f) Could you please supply me with a copy of the relevant Conditions to confirm the above or correct any misunderstanding on my part.

The relevant Terms and Conditions of Service for Ground trades Airmen for engagements are contained in the Royal Air Force Air Publication (AP) 3376 Vol 1 - Terms and Conditions of Service for Airmen of the Royal Air Force, which have been provided at Annexes A and B to this letter.

2. a) The number of applications made to join the RAF Regiment in 2010.

The recruiting year matches the same format as financial year, 1 April – 31 March. For the period of 1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011 there were 2881 applications.

2. b) The number who then passed the Basic Fitness Test and proceeded to the Gunners Selection Course.

527 applicants passed the Pre Joining Fitness Test.

2. c) The number who then entered the Regiment.

Applicants enter the Regiment to undertake the three stage 32 week training programme. 184 applicants were allocated to Phase One Training with the RAF Regiment for the first time in 2010/11. It is not always the case that an applicant will go from initial application to completion of training within one recruiting (financial) year.

2. d) The latest available statistics for the percentage of RAF Regiment recruits remaining in service at the end of each year, up to the 22 year point. e) The average length of service at each rank up to Warrant 1 (WO1). f) The percentage of those gaining promotion at each rank up to WO1. g) The percentage of those promoted to WO1 from the initial intake.

The most recent statistics that the MOD holds to answer questions 2. d), e), f) and g) can be found in the separate enclosure at Annex C – Career projections for the trade. Please be aware that all progressions after the rank of Leading (LAC) are on merit, rather than time served. In Annex C you will also see the abbreviation LoS, this stands for length of Service.

The information provided for career forecasts, to answer your requests at 2 d – g above, are not based on the actual experience of any one individual, but rather are based on the historical behaviour of individuals with similar characteristics. The L/Cpl rank was introduced into the Gunner trade in April 2010, therefore there is insufficient historic data to produce statistics which distinguish between the ranks of SAC and L/Cpl.

3. Could you please identify which band (lower or higher) of pay applies to each rank, including Lance , in the RAF Regiment up to Warrant Officer 1.

The allocation to pay ranges is held within Joint Service Publication (JSP) 754 – ‘Tri-Service Regulations for Pay and Charges’. The enclosure at Annex D is the relevant extract from that document and the answer to the question above can be found within it on page 3–2–C–2.

4. Could you please provide the pay band (lower or higher) applicable to RAF by trade and rank.

Please refer to Annex D, as detailed at question 3 above.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for study and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs) can be also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.

Most documents supplied by the Ministry of Defence will have been produced within government and will be Crown Copyright. For information about re-using Crown Copyright see the Office of Public Sector Information website at www.opsi.gov.uk. The copyright in some documents may rest with a third party. For information about obtaining permission from a third party see the Intellectual Property Office’s website at www.ipo.gov.uk.

If you are not satisfied with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by contacting the Head of Corporate Information, 1st Floor, Zone N, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail [email protected]). Please note that any request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has come to an end.

If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your case until the MOD internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website, http://www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Air Command Secretariat