Lord Clark of Windermere
Main Page: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Clark of Windermere's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(11 years, 4 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, I can confirm that to the noble Lord. That point came up in the Statement in the other place and it is absolutely true.
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his Statement and wish him and his colleagues every success in achieving this plan for the Reserve Forces. As the Minister knows, in the past I have asked him a number of questions about the Defence Medical Services and I see from the White Paper that 38% of the DMS is currently reservists. What percentage of the DMS does he envisage will be reservists in the future and will there be some medical competences within the DMS which will be entirely dependent on reservists?
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his support. He is absolutely right that the figure is 38%. I have seen the hugely valuable work that they do in Camp Bastion. Both the Armed Forces and the National Health Service benefit from the work that is going on and we will need these medical people in the future. I cannot give a specific percentage figure but I can assure the noble Lord how vital these people will be to us.