HEADQUARTERS AIR COMMAND
Secretariat 3a
Spitfire Block
Royal Air Force
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
HP14 4UE
Clyde Whiting
By Email
Our Ref:
05-04-2012-105818-004
4 May 2012
Dear Mr Whiting
Thank you for your email of 4 April 2012. I am replying as this is an area for which I have
responsibility. You requested the fol owing:
Please can you provide the totals of:
1. Civilian Instructors recruited since 01/01/2011.
2. NCOs recruited since 01/01/2010.
3. Officers recruited since 01/01/2009.
And how many in each of those categories still volunteer, as well as their approximate role
(Squadron, Wing, etc) in the Air Training Corps (not CCF(RAF)). Please include the number of
each category who have changed category (e.g. A Civilian Instructor who becomes an NCO,
etc).
Please include any reasoning, anecdotes or evidence to suggest why any recruits have not
been retained. This request only applies to adult volunteers who have officially enrolled into the
organisation.
This has been considered as a request for information in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA). I can confirm that we hold some information within the scope of
your request.
The table below shows the number of staff recruited in each of the three categories and from
the dates requested are as follows: These are the recruited staffs that are still in the
organisation.
1.
Civilian Instructors recruited since 01/01/2011 = 2040.
2.
NCOs recruited since 01/01/10 = 565.
3.
Officers recruited since 01/01/2009 = 847.
We do not hold data within the requested timescales on the number of personnel recruited who
then subsequently left the organisation. We also do not hold information on the reasons for
recruited staff leaving the organisation. Finally, we also hold no information on the number of
each category who have changed category within the requested timescales.
For the personnel in these categories, the only method to note their approximate role
(Squadron/Wing etc) would be to interrogate each individual personnel record. This would
involve reviewing 3,452 records, based on one person reviewing 30-50 records per hour. This
could take over 65 working hours which is estimated to cost £1,625 and this would therefore
incur disproportionate cost under Section 12 of the Act. In accordance with section 12 of the
FOI Act, the MOD is not obliged to comply with a request if the cost of doing so would exceed
the appropriate limit (set at £600 for central Government departments). In order to revise or
refine your request, in order to bring it into proportionate cost, you would need to request the
details for an area of the Air Cadet Organisation containing no more than roughly 300 volunteer
staff.
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, 2nd Floor, MOD Main Building,
Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-ma
il xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xx). 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 fol owing 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
[signed]
Secretariat 3a
Air Command
