Armed Forces Covenant

Sandra Osborne Excerpts

Monday 16th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

As my hon. Friend knows, there is considerable debate about the numbers of the armed forces as a proportion of the prison population. I think we can say that for many of those who end up in prison, particularly those who have been homeless or who have been subject to drug and alcohol problems, it represents a failure of other systems to provide a suitable safety net. As a country, when we consider issues such as mental health, we need to ensure that we do not allow those who are potentially vulnerable to fail to be picked up by the services that might prevent them from ending up in an inappropriate institution such as prison.

[Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)]

I am fortunate to have Combat Stress in my constituency. What funding mechanism will be used to distribute the £30 million and will it be open to charities such as Combat Stress to apply?

[Dr Fox]

It will. It will be settled by bids coming to the Ministry of Defence and any funding project that a community might undertake will be eligible for that. I am sure that the hon. Lady, knowing her, will be one of the first in the queue.