Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Prime Minister's press release of 18 August 2014, what steps he is taking to assess the impact of his Department's policies on the family.

Armed Forces families are an integral and valued part of the Armed Forces community. We ask a great deal of our Service personnel and, in return, they deserve to have confidence that their families are appropriately supported.

Over the last five years this Government has achieved significant successes in this area; we amended the schools admissions code to allow schools in England to allocate a place in advance of a Service family arriving in the area, and enabled infant schools in England to admit Service children over the class size of 30. In addition, we allocated £20 million in LIBOR money in Financial Year 2014-15 to support childcare infrastructure for Service families.

One of the key tools we use to understand how Armed Forces families feel about the policies which affect them is the annual Families Continuous Attitude Survey (FAMCAS) which monitors the views of spouses and civil partners of Service personnel in key welfare areas, including employment, schooling, healthcare and accommodation. The results of the survey are used to help develop and track military personnel policies. In excess of 7,000 people completed the 2014 FAMCAS survey, with the responses showing improvements in areas such as full-time employment rates for spouses which increased from 33% in 2010 to 40% in 2014 and the numbers owning their own home, which increased from 55% to 58% in the same period.

In addition to the use of FAMCAS, officials work closely with each Service, the Service Families Federations and Armed Forces charities to understand and respond to family issues. At a senior level, the Families Forum meetings and Service Charities Partnership Board meetings provide regular opportunities for family issues to be raised and monitored with Ministers and the Chief of Defence People.

I recognise that there is more we can do to support families, which is why I am determined to drive forward projects such as the New Employment Model which aims to produce a modernised offer that reduces the impact of Service life on individuals and their families.