31 (City of London) Signal Regiment
31st (City of London) Signal Regiment (V) was a Territorial Army regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The Regiment previously formed part of 2 (National Communications) Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations. However, as at 31 March 2010, along with five other TA signal regiments, the regimental HQ has finally closed with the loss of two squadrons (reduced to troop size) and the move of its two other squadrons to other signal regiments. Notably, 41 Signal Squadron has been reassigned to 38 (City of Sheffield) Signal Regiment.
This closure formed part of the defence spending review in the announcement made by the then Armed Forces Minister, Mr Bob Ainsworth, broadcast in Parliament on 28 April 2009.
As part of this measure, the MOD issued the Public and Commercial Services Union (the PCS is the Union that supports the civilian employees within TA units) a consultation document to assist with the intricate details of civilian redundancies, or offers of alternative employment.
The majority of TA soldiers have been offered placements at other units and all regular soldiers will now have been assigned to new positions within the Army. Most of those individuals employed as Non Regular Permanent Staff at Regimental HQ and the two closed squadrons have also had to look for new jobs or take redundancy.
However, as has previously occurred with other Army units in the past, it is hoped that 31st (City of London) Signal Regiment (V) will be reformed in the future after further TA reviews are completed. BUT, in 2014 41(PLK) Signal Squadron was reallocated to 71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment, reduced to a Troop and merged with the similarly down-sized 47 (MX Yeo) Signal Sqn to form a new 31 (MX Yeo and PLK) Signal Sqn. The PLK Troop is still based at Coulsdon and the MX Yeo Troop/SHQ based at Uxbridge.