Oral Answers to Questions

Louise Sandher-Jones Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Louise Sandher-Jones)]

Veterans across this country are benefiting from record levels of investment. The new veterans strategy celebrates our remarkable veterans as a vital national asset; there is £50 million for Operation Valour, and £12 million for the reducing veteran homelessness programme, alongside Operations Courage, Restore, Fortitude, Ascend and Nova. We are committed to ensuring that our veterans can easily access the support that they deserve when and where they need it.

[Catherine Fookes]

Veterans in my constituency benefit from the stellar Monmouthshire veterans support hub in Abergavenny. Such organisations, and the volunteers who keep them running, are invaluable to our communities. We also have excellent branches of the Royal British Legion, and a veterans-informed GP service in Monmouth. As the Government’s Valour programme gets under way, will the Secretary of State accompany me when I next visit the Monmouthshire veterans hub, not only to sample its brilliant breakfast fry-up, but to see brilliant examples of what can be achieved by these support hubs?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

It is truly wonderful to hear about the great work being done in my hon. Friend’s constituency to support veterans. Far be it from me to get between the Secretary of State and a fry-up, but if I can, I may take his place on a visit.

[John Whitby]

What assessment has the Minister made of the adequacy of housing provision for military veterans, particularly those with service-related injuries or disabilities, in rural areas such as Derbyshire Dales, where there is severe pressure on our affordable and supported housing stock?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. Those veterans who choose to resettle in rural areas may face additional challenges in accessing the services that they deserve. This Government are committed to reducing veterans’ homelessness, and I note the £12 million that we have spent to do so.

[Mr Speaker]

On his birthday, I call Lincoln Jopp.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Whose job is it to protect and enhance the moral component of fighting power?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

I wish the hon. and gallant Member a happy birthday.

Protecting the moral component of fighting power is a duty on those of us who have the huge privilege of serving as Ministers in this Government. I am sure that every officer will know that they have a role to play as well.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

The Veterans’ Commissioner for Wales has said that support for veterans to tackle

“substance abuse, mental health crisis and residential services do not exist within NHS Wales as they do in NHS England”.

What steps is the Minister taking to work with the commissioner and the Welsh Government to improve access to essential services? Will she encourage veterans to attend my event in Caernarfon on Sunday, which will bring together a host of key support organisations?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

I echo what the right hon. Lady says in promoting her event; she is doing an excellent job. Of course, my commitment is to veterans across the entire nation. We must do what we can, where we can, to ensure that veterans, wherever they are, can access the support that they need. Some of the matters that the right hon. Lady referred to are devolved, but of course work I with all my counterparts across the devolved Administrations to deliver.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

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

We had hoped to see the Minister for the Armed Forces today, but we accept that he is on manoeuvres.

More seriously, we learned last week that the Prime Minister’s interest in British Army veterans once even stretched to working with disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner to help prosecute them. What is the Minister’s reply to the subsequent comment from General Sir Peter Wall, the former head of the British Army, who said of those actions:

“If that’s the Prime Minister’s moral stance, then one has to ask questions about how compatible that is with his job of making decisions about putting soldiers in harm’s way in the national interest for the defence of the realm”?

What is the answer to the former Chief of the General Staff?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

I know that the hon. Member—

[Mr Francois]

Right hon.

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

Apologies. The right hon. Member played a pivotal role in the previous Government’s disastrous record on looking after the armed forces, overseeing the horrendous decline in accommodation and real-terms cuts to military pay, and hollowing out and underfunding our armed forces, so I know he is not a details man. I gently remind him that the Prime Minister did not work with that individual or with any organisation, and his role was limited to working with the Law Society on points of law. The Prime Minister actually has a record of representing people who were wrongfully accused or killed on operations.

[Mr Francois]

Let us try this for detail. Why should any British soldier, past or present, or those who commanded them, owe loyalty to a Labour Government who contain an Attorney General who once willingly represented Gerry Adams, or to a Prime Minister who once wrote a legal treatise on how best to prosecute them under the European convention on human rights? Why, before he was elected to Parliament, did our Prime Minister agree to take formal legal instructions from Phil Shiner, a man hated throughout the British Army for his years of false claims against veterans, for which he was convicted as a fraudster and struck off? What kind of politicians support our soldiers by helping to sue them?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

It is well known in the House that the Prime Minister was a human rights lawyer, so obviously he wrote in connection with that. What really stands as a testament to the Prime Minister’s support for veterans is the fact that this Government are delivering record spending for veterans and rolling out £50 million for valour hubs. I think that speaks for itself.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

8. What steps he is taking to ensure the delivery of initial operating capability for the Ajax programme.

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[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

9. What steps he is taking to improve armed forces housing.

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Louise Sandher-Jones)]

Under the plans set out in the defence housing strategy, 90% of military homes will be upgraded, renewed or rebuilt. The strategy is backed by a record £9 billion investment over a decade. That work will be driven by the Defence Housing Service. We have already rapidly improved military homes by delivering our charter commitments, including transforming 1,000 of the very worst homes.

[Mohammad Yasin]

I welcome the new publicly owned Defence Housing Service, which is already improving conditions for service families by bringing 4,688 of the 5,088 military homes in the eastern region back into public ownership for upgrade and renewal. Does the Minister agree that we must continue investing in our armed forces—the backbone of our national security—and that after years of neglect under the last Government, Labour’s £9 billion military housing strategy is finally delivering the homes and support that our service families deserve?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that under the previous Government, forces families were severely let down on housing. Under the plans set out in the defence housing strategy, 90% of military homes will, as he rightly notes, be upgraded, renewed or rebuilt.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

There is massive improvement in forces housing, but there is a site at Ballykinler that has been lying vacant for, I understand, five years. It is heated, and it has new windows. There has been lots of work done. I have written to the MOD, asking whether it is possible for properties that are not being used to be used for another purpose. For instance, they could be used for youth camps, for youth groups or for social housing, because this site in Ballykinler is secure. The Minister may not be able to answer that question now, but I would very much appreciate an answer on that.

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

As the hon. Member will be aware, I cannot provide an update on that specific instance now, but I will get an answer for him. We are exploring how we can make best use of the existing estate.

[David Chadwick (Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe) (LD)]

10. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of holding cross-party talks on reaching 3% defence spending by 2030.

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[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

11. What steps he is taking to support veterans of Operation Banner.

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Louise Sandher-Jones)]

Veterans of Operation Banner, like all veterans, are benefiting from record levels of investment by this Government. The new veterans strategy celebrates our remarkable veterans with £50 million for Operation Valour and £12 million for the reducing veteran homelessness programme.

[Joy Morrissey]

Today was my brother’s birthday. He was a veteran who died at age 36, and he would be proud that today I am talking about the 250,000 veterans of Operation Banner. Those veterans put their lives at risk to fight to keep us safe and free and they deserve our support, so will the Minister explain why the Government no longer believe those veterans deserve to be protected from more years of lawfare?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

I note the service of the hon. Lady’s brother. As she well knows, this Government are bringing in real protections for veterans, and if she wishes to support legislation that gives blanket immunity to terrorists, that is of course her prerogative.

[Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

12. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of research and development defence spending on the economy.

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[Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

15. What steps he is taking to support armed forces families.

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Louise Sandher-Jones)]

Armed forces families play a vital part in supporting members of our armed forces and helping them to perform their role of defending our national security. Our ambition is for our Valour hubs to support not only veterans but members of our wider armed forces communities, including families.

[Sarah Smith]

Another important factor in support for our brave troops is the provision of military clothing. The previous Conservative Government tied us into a contract whereby about 90% of Army clothing is secured through overseas suppliers, and a significant amount is secured from China. In my constituency of Hyndburn, the home of textiles, many businesses are eager to meet the needs of our British troops. Will the Minister review this and look into whether British companies can meet those British needs?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Can the Minister weave in the subject of the main question, which is about families rather than the supply of garments? Good luck.

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

I know that armed forces families will be very concerned about the kits that their loved ones are wearing. I hope that the majority of our clothing is sourced from British companies, but I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry will be happy to speak to my hon. Friend about the issue in more depth.

[Alicia Kearns (Rutland and Stamford) (Con)]

It is over a year since I raised the subject of the 5,700 women who were wrongly and unfairly dismissed from the armed forces for falling pregnant while in service. Will the Minister please update me on what she has done in that time to ensure that they get their caps and berets back? They absolutely deserve that, because we should be supporting those in the armed forces who want to have families.

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

The hon. Lady is right to raise that important point. I have received updates from officials, and I will push for a further timeline on which to update her.

[Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)]

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

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[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

T7. When visiting UK service personnel overseas at a NATO airbase, I was appalled to learn that many had been penalised by their home insurers by virtue of being posted abroad, despite the fact that these companies have signed up to the armed forces covenant. That goes against the very principle of the covenant, so I was glad that, after writing to many home insurance companies, a few, including Aviva and Hastings, have changed that policy. Does the Minister agree that, if insurers are going to sign up to the covenant, they need to make sure that they are living up to every single part of its important principles?

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Louise Sandher-Jones)]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. I know that more than 14,000 private organisations have signed the armed forces covenant, and one of its core principles is that service personnel should face no disadvantage compared with other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. I am glad that some insurance companies have taken steps to address this issue, and I urge all businesses to ensure that their policies fully support the armed forces community and reflect their commitment to the covenant.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

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[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

Many injured service personnel face prolonged recovery journeys, and access to specialist rehabilitation is crucial. How is the Department expanding the role of allied health professionals in the Defence Medical Services to strengthen rehabilitation and provide joined-up care from injury to recovery?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. All armed forces personnel are supported by dedicated and comprehensive rehabilitation services. Allied health professionals play a crucial role in supporting the treatment and rehabilitation of armed forces personnel in the UK and on operations.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

T3. The provisions of the Armed Forces Bill extend anti-drone permissions to the UK armed forces and UK bases. RAF Croughton is a US air force base in my constituency. Will the changes give US personnel the same updated authorities that are being extended to the UK armed forces?

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[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

T5. In my constituency, complaints about water supply to single living accommodation doubled from 116 in 2018 to 232 in 2024, with 16 separate losses of water for more than 24 hours last year. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can bring single living accommodation up to the standard that our servicemen and women deserve?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

Just last week, we launched the single living accommodation review, which is designed to get at exactly these issues to ensure that our serving personnel have the accommodation they deserve.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)]

Following President Trump’s insulting remarks about our hard-working British personnel, a constituent of mine contacted me saying he was very happy to hear the Prime Minister condemn those remarks. His eldest son has retired from the Army following injuries and his youngest son is a medic in the Army. My constituent is here in the Public Gallery today. Will the Secretary of State join me in paying tribute to our hard-working servicemen and women and to all our veterans, and recommit this Government to supporting and protecting our hard-working servicemen?