Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton Excerpts

Monday 13th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

1. What steps his Department is taking to improve standards in service family accommodation.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

The provision of quality accommodation is at the heart of the armed forces covenant. Around 94% of UK service family accommodation is at decent homes standard or above. Only service family accommodation at those standards will be allocated to new occupants. Since April 2016, around 14,500 kitchens, bathrooms, roofs, doors and windows, and some 10,000 new boilers, have been installed.

[Liz McInnes]

I thank the Minister for that response, but the armed forces continuous attitude survey in 2016 showed a significant drop in satisfaction among those living in service family accommodation—there was a decrease of seven percentage points, to just 50%. Can he assure the House that a further drop in satisfaction will lead to urgent action by the Department?

[Mark Lancaster]

I can, but equally I am confident that, after the Secretary of State’s intervention last year with CarillionAmey and the introduction of the get well plan, we have seen a significant improvement in satisfaction. That might not yet have filtered down into the survey, but recent stats show that the satisfaction rate on the service from CarillionAmey has risen from 40% to 61%. We take this matter very seriously, which is why I am keeping a close eye on it and am determined that the services standard should continue to improve.

[Sir Julian Brazier (Canterbury) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the progress that has been made on the CarillionAmey contract. However, does he agree that continuing to have service family accommodation—the patch, as it is affectionately called—is critical in providing a supportive arrangement for families when their loved ones are away on operations or indeed extended exercises?

[Mark Lancaster]

What our families really want is choice and support, but I can say to my hon. Friend that only recently I visited Salisbury plain and saw in Tidworth, Larkhill and elsewhere some 1,000 brand- new service family accommodation homes being built, so we take the matter very seriously. I am confident that SFA, as it is referred to, will continue to be provided, and some of those homes really are of an absolute first-rate standard. However, this is about trying to support the modern lifestyle of our service families and the way in which they work.

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

21. A recent Army Families Federation survey on the future of military housing showed that if SFA were reduced in favour of a rental allowance, 30% of those surveyed would definitely leave the Army and a further 46% would consider leaving. What does the Minister think the Government’s future accommodation model will do for retention rates?

[Mark Lancaster]

As I say, it is all about choice. If the hon. Gentleman looks at that survey, he will see that the overwhelming number of young soldiers, sailors and airmen who are yet to be married support the model that we are proposing. We are yet to make any firm decisions. We have reduced the number of options to about seven, on which we are running a business case, but I will keep the House fully informed as we progress.

[Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (Con)]

I welcome the Minister’s comments, but 40,000 members of the armed forces have still not been consulted on the future accommodation model. Among those who have, anxieties remain about whether SFA is still a real option for their families.

[Mark Lancaster]

I refer back to my earlier comments. Only recently I visited Salisbury plain, where we are building 1,000 new SFA units of an excellent standard. SFA will remain an option, but it is clear that one size does not fit all and that, depending on where one is serving in the United Kingdom, various options will have to be available.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

Last November, the National Audit Office reported:

“Poor accommodation for service families is also affecting the morale as well as the recruitment and retention of service personnel.”

In other words, the situation is deplorable. My concern is that only lip service is paid to those real worries. Surely to goodness, warm words and tinkering are not enough. Real action is needed. Why will not the Minister acknowledge that and introduce real improvements quickly?

[Mark Lancaster]

I am really disappointed to hear the hon. Gentleman’s comments. Only last year, some £64 million was invested in service family accommodation. Next year, we will invest some £80 million in service family accommodation. Perhaps, rather than sitting on the green Benches in the Chamber, he would like to take up my offer to come to see some of the new build we are providing for our families on Salisbury plain.

[Wayne David]

I am waiting for the invitation.

[Mark Lancaster]

Then here it is—so come rather than sitting on the green Benches and constantly carping.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

When service personnel are on active service abroad, the last thing they need is problems with their domestic arrangements and accommodation at home, so will the Minister ensure that, when service personnel are on active deployment, the accommodation helpline works absolutely perfectly for their partners at home?

[Mark Lancaster]

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. The point at which spouses are overseas on deployment is absolutely the time when we must focus on offering support to their families. I will look very carefully at what he says.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

Does the Minister agree that quality accommodation is central to satisfaction and retention rates, and does he therefore also agree that, having invested a large amount in service accommodation at Dale barracks in Chester, it would be a false economy to now close those barracks?

[Mark Lancaster]

The driver, of course, for the better defence estate strategy is military capability, but it is important that we have good-quality accommodation. As the hon. Gentleman knows, units will be relocated in his part of the world, and we will look carefully at that.

[Caroline Ansell (Eastbourne) (Con)]

2. What recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on NATO modernisation.

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[Holly Lynch (Halifax) (Lab)]

15. What steps his Department is taking to ensure the effective delivery of the armed forces covenant.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

The 2016 covenant annual report clearly demonstrates the progress that has been made since the covenant was enshrined in law. Today, I am pleased to announce a new initiative by the main broadband providers: personnel posted to a location not covered by their current provider can now cancel their broadband without incurring any additional fees. I thank BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Sky and Virgin Media for their support.

[Simon Danczuk]

Councillor McCarthy and Rochdale Council go above and beyond when it comes to delivering the armed forces covenant. This includes having a dedicated council officer—Caen Matthews, a former veteran himself—to ensure that those who fought for our country are properly looked after in our town. Will the Minister congratulate Rochdale Council on its success, and will he encourage other councils to follow suit?

[Mark Lancaster]

I heartily congratulate all those at Rochdale Borough Council—and, indeed, the hon. Gentleman—and thank them for their efforts. They have introduced measures that make a real difference to the armed forces community, ranging from providing practical support to members of our ex-services community seeking social housing to the naming of streets in recognition of local armed forces heroes. I commend the council’s good example to colleagues across the country and wish it well with its continuing work in support of the covenant.

[Holly Lynch]

Some amazing work is undertaken by the British Legion and other charities in my constituency and across the UK, but the head of SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity, has recently warned that the

“Armed Forces Covenant lacks bite”.

Many local authorities seem to feel that complying with the covenant is an option rather than an obligation. Will the Minister tell us what the Government are doing to reinforce the message of just how essential the covenant is?

[Mark Lancaster]

I think that there is an acceptance across the House of just how important the covenant is, and I am delighted that every local authority in Great Britain and four in Northern Ireland—has now signed it. Last year, we sent out a survey to try to establish best practice, and we are now moving on to the next stage, in which we will look carefully at those local authorities and other organisations that are not doing what they said they would do, and encourage them to remedy that. Ultimately we could revoke the agreement with them, but I would like to think that we would never get to that stage.

[Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)]

Will the Minister say a bit more about the corporate covenant—the business element of the covenant through which many companies make contributions to help service families and personnel? There has been quite a lot of success in that area.

[Mark Lancaster]

There has. As my right hon. Friend knows, we have now combined the community covenant and the corporate covenant into the armed forces covenant. I hope that some 1,500 businesses will have signed the covenant by later this week, and that is a testament to British business. It also illustrates the fact that this is a two-way deal, in that the skill sets that we give to our armed forces personnel will ultimately help our businesses as well.

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

Will the Minister please tell the House how the Department will spend the savings made through the cancellation of the e-bluey contract to improve communications for serving personnel?

[Mark Lancaster]

Since its peak, the use of e-blueys has reduced by some 98%, meaning that an e-bluey can sometimes cost £17. The service will cease from 1 April, but all the money saved will be reinvested, and there is now nowhere overseas that does not have access to the internet. However, we are looking carefully at this to ensure that nobody will be disadvantaged when the new service is introduced.

[Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)]

During a recent sitting of the Defence Committee, I shared with the Minister correspondence from the then Health Minister for Northern Ireland, now the leader of Sinn Féin, who pointedly said:

“the Armed Forces Covenant is not in place here”.

What advice and guidance can the Minister give in the face of such intransigence?

[Mark Lancaster]

We all understand that the armed forces covenant applies throughout the United Kingdom. I appreciate that there are specific challenges in Northern Ireland, and I have already said that I intend to make that a priority for this year. To that end, I shall be visiting Northern Ireland shortly.

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[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

5. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of support available to veterans entering the civilian workforce.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

The Department’s career transition partnership provides a robust and effective system to support service personnel entering the civilian workforce. The CTP provides one-to-one advice and guidance, and training and employment opportunities to about 15,000 service personnel each year.

[Chi Onwurah]

It is entirely unacceptable that the unemployment rate for veterans should be a third higher than that for non-veterans. Service personnel have told me that they might find it difficult to translate their important experience on the battlefield into the softer skills that industry requires today, such as teamwork, management and communication skills. What is the Minister specifically doing to address that point?

[Mark Lancaster]

I have no idea where the hon. Lady gets her facts from and I am slightly worried that we seem to be talking veterans down again. As a result of the CTP, some 85% of our service personnel find employment within six months—some 10% higher than the figure for the UK population as a whole.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

Service leavers have been highly trained and possess highly transferable skills which add value to any company in the civilian world. What more can be done to ensure that civilian employers understand the value of former service personnel?

[Mark Lancaster]

This is exactly where the armed forces covenant comes in and it shows why we must be so careful in this House when we seem determined sometimes to talk our veterans down. The sorts of skill sets that they can bring to civilian companies are very valuable, and this is something we absolutely enforce now that some 95% of our recruits join an apprenticeship scheme.

[Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)]

Our veterans are some of the most hard-working, dedicated and experienced men and women any employer could ask for, yet many of us have heard troubling stories of discrimination against former servicemen and women in the jobs market. Does the Minister agree with the Labour party that we should act to make discrimination against the forces community illegal, in order to protect our veterans and service personnel from any prejudice they may face?

[Mark Lancaster]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman to the Dispatch Box, and could not agree more with his opening comments—perhaps he needs to educate some of his colleagues about that. This is precisely why we have the armed forces covenant. At this early stage, we are trying through that mechanism to ensure that the value of our veterans is fully understood by wider society.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

6. What recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on NATO’s 2% GDP spending target.

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[Mike Weir (Angus) (SNP)]

9. What progress he has made on implementing the defence estate strategy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

The Ministry of Defence is conducting a series of detailed assessments at affected sites, which is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete. The assessments will more precisely define the exact moves, but good progress is being made.

[Mike Weir]

When launching the reviews, Ministers said that they would release land for housing and boost local economies. What weight is the Minister giving to projects for affordable housing and other community projects in determining the price that is asked?

[Mark Lancaster]

The disposal of land has to follow Treasury guidelines, but I am delighted that Angus Council has expressed an interest in purchasing the land at RM Condor in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. I am equally delighted that progress will continue on Thursday, when Defence Infrastructure Organisation officials will meet council officials.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

What consideration has been given to the use of the Ballykinler site in Northern Ireland for social housing or housing for veterans?

[Mark Lancaster]

There have recently been discussions about the potential use of the accommodation at that site, and those discussions will continue.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham is, of course, also a doctor. That fact was erroneously not reflected on the Order Paper. I hope that will not happen again. I call Dr Caroline Johnson.

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[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

11. What assessment he has made of the economic and social effect on local communities of proposals in the defence estate review for the closure of Ministry of Defence sites.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

“A Better Defence Estate” is a military-led review. This estate optimisation strategy was developed in consultation with senior military officers to optimise defence infrastructure to better support military capability. The MOD has engaged with, and will continue to engage with, local authorities in order to maximise and enhance local economic development as well as value for money for defence.

[Rachael Maskell]

“A Better Defence Estate” will result in more than 500 civilian and contractor jobs lost in York, where the local economy is already struggling with low wages and job losses. Why is the Minister not following joint service publication 507, which determines that an economic and social impact assessment has to take place first? Will he work across Government to ensure that we can secure jobs in York?

[Mark Lancaster]

Let us be clear that the site the hon. Lady mentions is due for disposal in some 14 years’ time in 2031. We will be following all due process. The economic impact assessment is as much a useful document for the local authority to see what gaps there may be as a result of the estate being closed, so that we can work closely with the local authority to see how we can move forward.

[Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)]

Further to my meeting with the Minister last week regarding housing at Ballykinler Army camp, and further to the question of the hon. Member for South Antrim (Danny Kinahan), will the Minister detail the nature of the further discussions he mentioned? What detail will be provided to ensure that those houses are released to meet unmet housing need?

[Mark Lancaster]

With respect to the hon. Lady, we discussed this in detail last week, so I will simply do as I said I would in that meeting and write to her in due course.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

12. What recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the level of funding for his Department.

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[Rebecca Harris (Castle Point) (Con)]

16. What steps he is taking to release surplus Ministry of Defence land.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

As part of an ongoing programme, all land that is surplus to defence requirements is sold in accordance with the guidelines set by the Treasury. This release of sites supports the Department’s contribution to the Government’s public sector land release target to reduce the housing deficit or contribute to economic development.

[Rebecca Harris]

I appreciate that some people will be concerned about the release of some MOD land, but does my hon. Friend agree that, for anyone who is anxious to have a home of their own or who needs new business premises, it often cannot come quickly enough?

[Mark Lancaster]

Indeed. I would point the House to the recent sale of the Hullavington site, which I was delighted was bought by Sir James Dyson. While it may not be going directly to housing, it will become the Dyson global research and development hub, which will bring much-needed economic development to the area.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

I am pleased to say that we remain ahead of target in recruiting our reserves. The key to retention—I declare my hand as a serving reservist—is to make sure that we continue to offer interesting and exciting opportunities and training in the reserves, and we aim to do that.

[Nusrat Ghani (Wealden) (Con)]

The Saudi-led Islamic military alliance to defeat Daesh has grown from 34 to 40 members. The role of Islamic countries in defeating Daesh, especially its poisonous ideology, is absolutely key. What update does my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State have from the Saudis on the progress made by the Saudi coalition?

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[Mark Lancaster]

No, which is precisely why we invested £60 million last year and will invest £84 million this year to ensure that our service personnel’s accommodation is very good. It is also why service personnel are not allowed to go into any new service family accommodation home that does not meet the decent homes standard.

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

Carterton in my constituency has a large amount of Royal Air Force housing and land that will be available for much-needed housing. Will the Minister agree to meet me to discuss ways in which the land can be released for that urgently needed housing?

[Mark Lancaster]

I would be delighted to do so.

[Vernon Coaker (Gedling) (Lab)]

What discussions has the Defence Secretary had with the US Government about the announcement over the weekend of the deployment of hundreds of US marines to northern Syria, what their purpose is and what co-operation will take place between us and the Americans with respect to that deployment?

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[Mark Lancaster]

The strategy is absolutely fit for purpose, and it is based on delivering military capability. Reducing the estate by some 30% means that we have less estate to look after, and that we can reinvest some £4 billion over the next 20 years.[Official Report, 16 March 2017, Vol. 623, c. 8MC.]

[Several hon. Members rose—]