Gurkha Veterans
Sally Jameson Excerpts(1 day, 11 hours ago)
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Sally Jameson (Doncaster Central) (Lab/Co-op)
I, too, thank the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Cameron Thomas) for bringing this important debate to the Chamber.
For over two centuries, Gurkha soldiers have stood shoulder to shoulder with British troops in conflicts across the globe. Their bravery, loyalty and sacrifice has been unwavering. They have fought in wars, upheld our values and in many cases laid down their lives in service to this country. I am proud, as the Member for Doncaster Central, to represent a large Gurkha population. I am proud not only because of the service they have given this country, but because of the contribution they make to our city today. They are valued members of the Doncaster community and we are richer for their contribution. That is why I am here today to ensure their voice is heard.
As the Minister will already be aware from speeches by other hon. Members, there are many in the Gurkha community who feel that their pension provision has not been fairly applied. Some are living in real hardship as a result.
This relates particularly to those who enlisted before ’93 and the loss of the pre-1997 service value. Let me illustrate a personal example of this: a Gurkha veteran in my constituency served 28 and a half years, yet for pension purposes only 16 years of that service is recognised. That represents a loss of around £10,000 a year simply due to excluded service. While I understand the position of this Government—and previous Governments—on this, I ask on behalf of my constituent, and many more like him, that there is continued dialogue with Government to try to remedy what feels like an injustice to them.
I therefore ask the Minister to continue working with Gurkhas on the areas they feel are outstanding, not least because my constituents have told me that they feel that the Gurkha offer to transfer failed to clearly explain the loss of the pre-1997 service value and the option to split pre and post-1997 service for pension purposes. Furthermore, will the Minister consider working with the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that Gurkhas who served this country—particularly for a long time, like 28 and a half years—are entitled to the full state pension? That only matches the level of service they have given this country.
I thank the hon. Member for Tewkesbury once again and look forward to hearing the Minister’s answer. This is an important debate to have in the House today, not just to highlight the issues that Gurkhas are facing across this country, but as a chance to celebrate their contribution, both to my city and to the nation.
Oral Answers to Questions
Sally Jameson Excerpts(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield) (Lab)
Sally Jameson (Doncaster Central) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry (Luke Pollard)
Defence is an engine for growth. The defence industrial strategy, which we published in September, sets out how we will reform procurement, cut contracting times, spend more of our rising defence budget with British companies, invest in frontier technologies and skills, crowd in private capital and support regional development.
Luke Pollard
I join my hon. Friend in thanking his constituent for his creativity and work.
Defence is one of the largest apprenticeship employers in the country, with over 24,000 apprentices. The Navy is No. 2 and the RAF is No. 4, and I am proud that the Army has been named the No. 1 apprenticeship employer. We are doing even more than that with £182 million going into skills, and we are working with our trade union colleagues—from both the GMB, of which I am proud to be a member, and Unite—alongside industries big and small, as part of the Defence Industrial Joint Council, so we can motor our economic development and create more jobs in defence.
Sally Jameson
How can the defence sector make better use of underutilised MOD land and assets to contribute to innovative models of business such as the community energy projects that, alongside initiatives such as the South Yorkshire growth deal, can contribute to local SMEs and energy security?
Luke Pollard
As a very proud Labour and Co-operative MP, I know just how important it is to use community energy to create good renewable energy and cut energy bills. I would be very happy to speak to my hon. Friend about that. We are looking at the 1% of Britain that we own as a Department to see how we can not only deliver defence outputs and build more houses—with 100,000 houses identified in the defence housing strategy—but support environmental output and greater industrial opportunities for the private sector. I am very happy to meet her to discuss that further.
Oral Answers to Questions
Sally Jameson Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Mrs Sarah Russell (Congleton) (Lab)
Sally Jameson (Doncaster Central) (Lab/Co-op)
Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)
Luke Pollard
I thank my hon. Friend for her interest in this area and for championing the work of that organisation in her constituency. As we get to the point of implementing the Armed Forces Commissioner, I expect that they will have new relationships with service charities and organisations for serving members of our forces and the wider armed forces family. I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that, and I look forward to visiting her constituency to meet that organisation in person if I can.
Sally Jameson
Will the Minister consider that it is right that the Armed Forces Commissioner be able to challenge Ministers, and increase parliamentary oversight of the issues that face our forces and their families?
Luke Pollard
That was a commitment we made in opposition, but it is also a commitment to increased scrutiny that we are proud to make from the Government Dispatch Box. We want to make the case that, to improve morale and to improve the relationship and the contract between the nation and those who serve, having an independent and impartial figure to champion our armed forces and their families will improve not only the lived experience of those people, but the operational capability of our forces, encouraging more people to recognise that someone is genuinely listening to their concerns and that Ministers are prepared to act on them as well. There is a lot of work to be done to renew the contract, but the Armed Forces Commissioner is a key first step.
John Healey
Absolutely nothing, nor will we. It is a matter of course to confirm running costs for bases. What we are talking about here is an agreement leading to a treaty that will be put before this House. I have said to the House and to the shadow Secretary of State that we will set out the costs and the details of that treaty in due course when the House comes to consider it.
Sally Jameson (Doncaster Central) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister for Veterans and People (Al Carns)
I would love to come and visit my hon. Friend’s constituency to talk through that and reaffirm that the covenant will go into law in the next two to three years. That work is progressing as I speak.