Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Families of Armed Forces Personnel: Support

Monday 24 May 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Service families are an integral part of the armed forces community and require support to sustain both a military career and family life.
  • The recommendations from the report 'Living in our Shoes' will be incorporated into the armed forces families strategy.
  • Changes to the school admissions code now allow service children to join a school during the school year, providing greater flexibility.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Andrew Jones Con
Defence Veterans
Context

The question is prompted by the need to address the welfare and support requirements of service families, emphasizing the importance of sustaining a military career while also supporting family life.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to support the families of armed forces personnel. Service families are an integral part of the armed forces community, and there is a need for support to sustain both a military career and family life.

Answer from Leo Docherty

Service families are an integral part of the armed forces community. We look forward to taking the recommendations from the report 'Living in our Shoes' into our armed forces families strategy as part of our efforts to ensure that defence people can sustain family life.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer acknowledges the importance of support for service families but does not provide specific steps or actions being taken by the department.

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Q2 Andrew Jones Con
Education Veterans
Context

The question addresses the impact of regular school changes due to postings on the education of service family children and requests a focus on educational support within the Armed Forces Bill.

Question

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I think the Armed Forces Bill will be very helpful in ensuring that families receive the same level of consideration from public bodies wherever they live, but may I focus on education? Moving schools when moving postings is a regular part of service family life that can have a disruptive impact on a child's education.

Answer from Leo Docherty

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. I am pleased to report that there are now changes to the school admissions code in place that will allow flexibility, allowing service children to join a school during the school year. This is part of our commitment to forces families.

Answered
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