Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

“Living in our Shoes” Report

Monday 19 February 2024 · 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 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Andrew Selous asked about continuing online updates on the implementation of recommendations from the "Living in our Shoes" report.
  • The Minister highlighted the Haythornthwaite review, the defence Command Paper refresh, and the families strategy as reinforcing the commitment to armed forces families.
  • The Minister reported that 106 out of 110 recommendations from the report have been accepted.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Andrew Selous Con
Defence Children & Families
Context

The question arises from concerns about the implementation of accepted recommendations from the 'Living in our Shoes' report, which was published on 30 June 2020. The report focuses on improving conditions and support for families of armed forces personnel.

Question

If he will continue to issue online updates on the implementation of accepted recommendations from the “Living in our Shoes” report, published on 30 June 2020.

Answer from Grant Shapps

Families are an integral part of the armed forces community. Our commitment to them remains strong and is reinforced by the Haythornthwaite review, the defence Command Paper refresh, the families strategy, which was published in January 2022, and my hon Friend's excellent “Living in our Shoes” framework for delivering more family-sympathetic policies.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The exact commitment to provide ongoing online updates about implementation progress of the accepted recommendations was not directly addressed.

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Q2 Andrew Selous Con
Defence Veterans
Context

Armed forces families face unique challenges such as separation, relocation, and danger to their loved ones. They may feel disenfranchised and reluctant to approach their Member of Parliament due to potential impacts on their spouse's career.

Question

The families of armed forces personnel have to put up with more separation, relocation and danger to their loved ones than the families of any other public servants, and they often feel slightly disenfranchised. They might not know their Member of Parliament, and they might fear to approach them because of the impact it might have on their spouse or partner's career. Does my right hon Friend agree it is incredibly important that the public can see the follow-through on the 86 recommendations that the Ministry of Defence accepted in full and on the 20 recommendations that it accepted in part?

Answer from Grant Shapps

My hon Friend will be interested to hear that I have a slightly different number. My number is that 106 of his report's 110 recommendations have been accepted. Regardless of the exact figure, I entirely agree on the importance of making sure that armed forces families live in decent accommodation. When we ask armed forces personnel to fight abroad, they should live in good accommodation when they come home. My hon Friend is familiar with the steering group, which includes families, federations and the authors of his excellent report, and he will be pleased to hear that it meets again on 28 February.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about the exact number of accepted recommendations (106) was acknowledged but not directly committed to providing ongoing updates.

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