Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Brown Excerpts

Monday 15th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Johnny Mercer]

There is not a carve-out in the budget for veterans who live overseas, but we are committed to ensuring that the armed forces covenant works equally for them as it does in this country. We are introducing the Armed Forces Bill in the coming months to legislate for the first time to ensure that discharge of duties cannot result in disadvantage from local authorities in health, housing and education. I look forward to the hon. Member supporting the Bill.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

What recent assessment he has made of the level of satisfaction among armed forces personnel with military (a) housing and (b) salaries.

[The Minister for Defence People and Veterans (Johnny Mercer)]

Defence regularly monitors several metrics to gauge service personnel satisfaction levels, including for accommodation and pay, via the armed forces continuous attitude survey.

[Alan Brown [V]]

The Army has been instrumental in the fight against covid, from assisting with logistics to being directly involved in testing the vaccination programmes; yet the reward for army personnel is a pay freeze at a time when low pay is one of the factors that causes people to leave the armed forces, as Government studies should show. I ask the Minister, why was Dominic Cummings awarded a huge pay rise, yet armed forces personnel are not deemed worthy of one?