To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have been recruited to the Brigade of Gurkhas in each year since 2010; to which unit each such person was recruited; and from which region of Nepal those recruits originated.
Answered on
2 July 2015
Recruitment to the Brigade of Gurkhas in Nepal starts in April each year with an advert stating the number required. Final selection and enlistment is in December with allocation to unit occurring towards the end of training the following year. Traditionally half of each intake is recruited from the west of Nepal, around Pokhara, and half from the east, around Dharan. The recruitment of Gurkhas was reduced during the redundancy programme but has now increased. The table shows the recruit totals and the allocation to units for the recruiting year 2010 to date. The allocation to units for 2015 is provisional as the recruits are still under training.
UNIT | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Royal Gurkha Rifles | 100 | 100 | 60 | 60 | 120 |
Queen's Gurkha Engineers | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
Queen's Gurkha Signals | 30 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 40 |
Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment | 20 | 30 | 20 | 20 | 40 |
Gurkha Staff and Personnel Support | 10 | 10 | - | - | - |
Brigade Band | - | - | - | - | - |
TOTALS | 180 | 180 | 130 | 130 | 230 |
The totals are official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. Unit details are single service estimates only. Figures have been rounded in accordance with normal policy.