Armed Forces: Accommodation

Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts

Thursday 1st March 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Palmer of Childs Hill]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports, whether they intend to continue to provide accommodation for families of service personnel.

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, we recognise the importance of continuing to provide accommodation for our service personnel and their families, and anticipate no fundamental change to that principle. Accommodation provision is currently being examined in the future accommodation project as part of work on the new employment model. It is too early at this stage to speculate as to what changes are likely to be forthcoming, as all proposals are still in development and will not be reported upon until late autumn this year.

[Lord Palmer of Childs Hill]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his reply. As he will remember, during the passage of the Armed Forces Bill I drew attention to the poor state of accommodation of Armed Forces personnel. Does my noble friend agree that subsidised housing is, as has been quoted, a “staunch pillar” of the military covenant? Will he explain to your Lordships’ House how forcing married soldiers living in Army accommodation out of their homes is consistent with the military covenant? Will he confirm reports that the new employment model will cut housing entitlement to eight or 10 years’ service? Finally, does he agree that within the employment model that he describes, under which soldiers will be able to buy their own homes, it should be a choice not a requirement?

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, the provision of accommodation near the duty station continues to be seen as an important enabler of operational effectiveness, and there are no plans to remove entitlement to it based on a defined point in a service person’s career. As my noble friend said, accommodation is a fundamental part of the Armed Forces covenant, and noble Lords will recall several valuable improvements made to the covenant during the passage of the Armed Forces Bill through your Lordships’ House last autumn. It is much improved as a result.