Improving Service Life Personnel and Families 2024-11-18
2024-11-18
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Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Service morale has fallen to record lows, with over 300 more full-time personnel leaving the forces each month than joining.
What steps are being taken to improve service life for serving personnel and their families? Over the last year, service morale fell to record lows, with over 300 more full-time personnel leaving the forces than joining each month. What steps is the Government taking?
Over the last year, service morale fell to record lows, with over 300 more full-time personnel leaving the forces than joining each month. We cannot reverse these deep-set problems overnight, but this Government are putting people at the heart of our defence plans, and today will see the Second Reading of our legislation to establish an independent Armed Forces Commissioner to improve service life.
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Q2
Direct Answer
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The Government announced a package including 20 hours of funded wraparound childcare for eligible families overseas.
Can the Minister assure us that practical support like childcare funding will be a fundamental pillar of the Government's support for forces families? The package announced this weekend of 20 hours of funded wraparound childcare for families deployed overseas is very welcome. Can the Minister please assure us that this type of practical assistance will be a fundamental pillar of the Government's support for forces families?
I can indeed. Supporting our service families is really important, especially when they are far from home, and this scheme will reduce the burden of childcare costs for those eligible families overseas. This is a Government who are delivering for defence and putting our forces personnel at the heart of our defence plans.
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Q3
Direct Answer
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The RFA is vital to the sustainability of the Royal Navy, but its pay and conditions often do not match those of the armed forces or civil service.
What can be said to reassure RFA members that they are valued? The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is often overlooked yet it plays a critical role in our maritime operations. What can the Secretary of State say to members of the RFA to reassure them that they are valued?
Over the last decade or more, we have been expecting more of those members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. They play a critical role in our maritime operations and they are highly valued as part of our services community. We see an important future for that service as part of building Britain's defences for the future, and we are putting forces personnel and RFA personnel at the heart of our plans to ensure that we are more secure at home and strong abroad.
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Q4
Direct Answer
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Families are facing a new tax on school fees, leading to instability in children's education.
Will the continuity of education allowance be uplifted to fund 100% of the new tax on those fees? Thousands of families will receive an unwelcome Christmas present this year with a 20% tax on school fees for independent boarding schools. Given that the new tax is entirely due to Government policy, will the Secretary of State confirm that the continuity of education allowance will be uplifted to fund 100% of these fees?
We will uprate the continuity of education allowance to reflect the increase in school fees from January. We will do that so that the allowance continues to maintain the schooling of the many children of personnel that are deployed. Our mission as a Government is to lift the morale of our services. That is why we are investing in our servicemen and women, supporting their families and starting to fix the problems of the last 14 years that we have inherited.
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