Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of mental health services available for Armed Forces across the UK; and whether they plan to make further changes.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
All Service personnel have access to mental health support throughout their career, including medical and non-medical services. This includes, but is not limited to, preventative support such as wellbeing services, digital content, access to trained mental health first aiders, interventional support, and appointments with clinical staff.
For Armed Forces personnel requiring mental healthcare, the Defence Medical Services (DMS) provides a responsive, flexible, accessible, and comprehensive treatment service. This is available in the UK and overseas firm base (non-deployed, permanent locations) and on operations as required. The Defence Mental Health Service (DMHS) supports the provision of mental healthcare that is available through Primary Care facilities and is configured to provide community-based mental health care in line with national best practice.
Work is ongoing within DMS to reshape mental health provision to reduce waiting lists and support patients by providing fully integrated, safe, effective, and efficient mental healthcare.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve mental health support for members of the Armed Forces and their families.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to improving the mental health and wellbeing of our Armed Forces personnel and their families. We already provide personnel with through-career support in resilience building and education about mental health issues in addition to professional, dedicated medical service provision.
As well as providing a 24hr mental health helpline delivered by Combat Stress, Defence also works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS(England) to provide single points of contact for personnel, their families, and veterans. The Devolved Administrations are responsible for the delivery of health care and medical services in their nations.
We continually look to improve and build upon the support we offer.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to provide mental health support to British armed forces personnel upon their return from duty in Afghanistan.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave on 2 September 2021 to Question HL2389 to the noble Lord, Lord Taylor of Warwick.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the vaccine rollout within British armed forces and security personnel.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
As at 10 September 2021, 87% of UK Armed Forces personnel had received at least one COVID vaccination and 67% were fully vaccinated. Given the age profile of our personnel, these rates are slightly ahead of comparable statistics for the general population. Defence continues to work to improve COVID vaccine uptake for all eligible personnel.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the mental health and wellbeing support available 24 hours a day to serving members of the British Armed Forces.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
We are committed to the mental health and wellbeing of our Service personnel and recognise that Service life can cause stress. All Regular Service personnel are supported by dedicated medical services including mental health support. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) also provides a 24-hour mental health helpline for Serving personnel and their families to provide support for any mental health problems anytime, anywhere.
The available evidence indicates that the mental health of the Armed Forces is broadly comparable to that of the general population and we are working with the single Services, Defence Medical Services, and others to promote good mental fitness and breakdown stigma. As a supplement to existing provision, in April 2020 the MOD, in partnership with The Royal Foundation, launched HeadFIT, a mental fitness tool to support the Armed Forces community.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many former military sites are currently vacant in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
A copy of the list showing the land and buildings that are in the process of being disposed of by the Ministry of Defence has been placed in the Library of the House. The majority of these sites are still occupied whilst being prepared for disposal. However, 25 part or whole sites are currently vacant and have been physically handed over to Defence Infrastructure Organisation for disposal.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of recruits to the Armed Forces who take sick leave return to complete their training.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Whilst the Ministry of Defence records the medical employability and deployability of Service personnel, more specific information about the level of sickness absence in the Armed Forces is not held centrally. As at 1 June 2020, medical employability for the trained UK Armed Forces was 98 per cent.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average waiting time for people who pass the recruitment process for the British Armed Forces before they receive a job offer.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Each Service collates this information in different ways and so the figures are not comparable.
Naval Service (Royal Navy and Royal Marines)
During Recruiting Year (RY) 2019-20, the average (mean) time between a recruiter bidding for a candidate to get an entry date and the allocation of an entry date was 22 days as a total average for Officers and Ratings/Other Ranks.
Army
The average (median) time between the successful completion of an assessment centre and being allocated a training start date during the 2019-20 RY, (1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020) for Other Ranks was 51 days. This is not collated for Officers.
Royal Air Force (RAF)
During Financial Year 2019-20, the average (median) wait time for Officer and Other Ranks candidates who completed the RAF recruiting process to receive a job offer was between two and three working days.