Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Tom Gordon and Lindsay Hoyle(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Louise Sandher-Jones)
It is a huge honour to be here, and I am very honoured.
We inherited a crisis in recruitment and retention. This Government are renewing the contract with those who serve by giving them the largest pay rise in 20 years, allocating an extra £1.5 billion to fix forces housing and establishing a new Armed Forces Commissioner. It is clear that our actions are having an effect. On recruitment, inflow continues to improve and is up 13% year on year, and applications to join the armed forces and intakes to basic training both remain high. On retention, morale had been falling year on year with more people leaving than joining, but we have started to reverse that decline, with an 11% reduction in outflow year on year.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Tom Gordon and Lindsay Hoyle(1 year ago)
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Mr Speaker
Could Members stand every time so that I know they want to ask a question? I call Tom Gordon.
Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)
Sorry, Mr Speaker. West Yorkshire borders my patch. Will the Minister ensure that a mass transit system in Leeds connects with places such as Harrogate just across the border, so that there is a combined approach for the entire region?