Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in upgrading the accommodation for armed forces personnel and their families at military establishments in the UK.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
For FY 2024-25, circa £440 million is currently forecast to be spent on maintaining and improving SFA. This includes improving insulation, remediating homes with damp and mould issues and the upgrade of heating systems.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to reviewing its standard for accommodation with the aim of improving the condition of SFA across the estate, and to improve the lived experience for Service families. As part of this, the MOD has recently regained ownership of circa 36,000 SFA properties through the deal with Annington Property Limited, substantially increasing its ability to redevelop and improve our estate further.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the size of the reserve forces.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A number of activities are underway across the single Services aimed at increasing the size of our Reserves.
Within the Royal Navy, social media, local civic events and marketing campaigns are utilised to engage and inform potential joiners of the opportunities available to them. A new national recruitment campaign is planned for 2025, which includes local radio and other mediums to attract new entrants.
Within the Army, good progress has been made against a package of measures aimed at improving inflow and retention. Highlights include a marketing campaign, the use of four financial incentive schemes, and the optimisation of recruiting processes.
Within the Royal Air Force, progress has been made on the establishment of regional support hubs which focus on recruitment and initial training, fast track selection events, the development of a Reserves-focused marketing campaign, and establishing a team dedicated to Reserves career management.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution the UK Hydrographic Office is making to decarbonising the shipping industry.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) goals are for a Carbon Intensity reduction of at least 40% by 2030 compared with 2008 levels. Given the lack of availability of future fuels and greener technology, the drivers for decarbonisation in the near term are going to be voyage optimisation and increased efficiency in navigation.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve support for veterans.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Work continues across government and with civil society to ensure veterans get access to the support they need.
Last month, the Prime Minister announced the continuation of funding for the cross-UK Reducing Veterans Homelessness Programme, including Op FORTITUDE. This system provides housing guidance and assistance to veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness. As of 30 November 2024, over 2,850 referrals have been made and 822 veterans have been supported into housing.
This is in addition to his commitment earlier in the year that veterans will be exempt from local connection and residency tests when applying for social housing in England.
Veterans can also access a range of tailored employment support, including the Career Transition Partnership, which is the initial point of provision for those leaving military service in search of new job opportunities.
Armed Forces Champions are also based across the UK’s JobCentre Plus network, providing tailored advice and employability support to members of the armed forces community.
In England Op RESTORE provides specialist care to veterans who have physical health problems, and Op COURAGE, a mental health specialist service helps veterans and their families.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to support service families using high-cost credit and financial services.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works in close partnership with three not-for-profit Credit Unions which make up the Joining Forces Credit Union initiative. Armed Forces personnel, their partners, families, and dependants, can access face-to-face and online financial awareness briefings to help improve financial resilience with the aim of deterring the use of ‘pay day loan companies’. Joining Forces Credit Union provides alternative savings and loan products enabling Armed Forces personnel to make better informed financial choices.
Additionally, the MOD works closely with charities such as The White Ensign Association and Government backed organisations such as the Money and Pensions Service and GambleAware to provide financial awareness campaigns using the British Forces Broadcasting Service to highlight everything from savings, borrowing, pensions and the pitfalls of problem gambling.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they provide to the Armed Forces Covenant Trust.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since 2015, delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant has been supported by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. The Trust is a grant-making arm’s-length body of the Ministry of Defence and a charity, and funds projects that support the delivery of the nation’s Covenant promise to our Armed Forces, veterans, and their families. The Government provides all the Trust’s income, and in Financial Year 2023-24, this totalled £35.6 million.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of personnel in the armed forces in the UK, including reserve forces.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
As at 1 January 2024, there were 138,100 UK Forces personnel, of which 132,360 are based in-country.
As at 1 January 2024 there were 32,650 Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) of which an estimated 32,310 are based in-country.
The stationed location data for Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Reserves has not been fully verified, therefore the figure provided is considered to be an estimate. Future Reserves 2020 includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, HRR and volunteer reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment (ADC) or FTRS contracts.
Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure. However, numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias. Totals and its constituent numbers have been rounded separately, and so totals may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.
Further Stationed Location Stats for UK Regulars can be found in the Annual Location Statistics (ALS) publication:
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of young people in the cadet forces in the UK.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The latest available data for Cadets as at 1 April 2023, showed there to be 83,170 individuals in the Community Cadet Force, and 50,950 individuals in the Combined Cadet Force.
Figures for total Cadets can be found in the Ministry of Defence Sponsored Cadet Forces Statistics publication:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-sponsored-cadet-forces-statistics-index
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average time a business waits for the payment of an invoice from the Ministry of Defence.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
As per Cabinet Office guidance, the Ministry of Defence aims to pay 90% of all undisputed and validated invoices for Small to Medium Enterprises within 5 days of receipt. Additionally, MoD is committed that 100% of all undisputed and validated invoices should be paid within 30 days.
Ministry of Defence reports its supplier payment performance, invoice processing and MoD contract payments in line with statutory requirements and reports its results quarterly at GOV.UK Ministry of Defence supplier invoicing and payment information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Table below shows results for financial year 2023-2024 by quarter. Financial year runs from April 2023 to March 2024.
Ministry of Defence payment performance | ||
2023-2024 | ||
Financial year | Percentage of invoices paid | Percentage of invoices paid |
First Quarter | 94.13% | 99.24% |
Second Quarter | 94.08% | 99.29% |
Third Quarter | 87.35% | 99.25% |
[1] This includes all suppliers not just Small to Medium Enterprises
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in upgrading the accommodation provided to service personnel in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Since 2016, the proportion of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) that meets or exceeds the Decent Homes Standard has risen from 94% to 97%. Only these homes are allocated to Service Families.
The Ministry of Defence has invested more than £936 million in SFA upgrades and improvements in the last seven Financial Years.
Through Financial Year 2022/23, the £185 million investment programme included approximately 150 major projects to an estimated 9,788 SFA, around 20% of stock. This included £73 million to improve the thermal efficiency of homes, which provided 600 properties with new boilers, 1,200 with new roofs, 1,740 with new doors and windows, and 900 with full external wall insulation.
Overall, we are spending circa £199 million on new SFA homes, with £80 million of that being spent over 4 years on programmes such as Defence Estates Optimisation Programme (DEOP).