Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support Armed Forces personnel with children when there is a breakdown in family arrangements.

Joint Service Publication (JSP) 770 (Tri-Service Operational and Non-Operational Welfare Policy) provides a framework for the delivery of a widely recognised and accessible support structure that secures and improves the wellbeing of Service personnel and the Service community.

Whilst JSP 770 recognises that Service personnel have responsibility for their own immediate welfare and that of their family, the Chain of Command have prime responsibility for the welfare support of those personnel under their command and their entitled families when their wellbeing is at risk. Delivery of welfare support to Service personnel and entitled family members is therefore a single Service responsibility and includes provision of welfare support to Service families experiencing separation and divorce.

JSP 770 can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_d ata/file/480979/FOI_04718-JSP_770__Final_v10-U.pdf.

In addition, the Armed Forces Covenant also ensures that support is provided to Armed Forces families. It ensures, amongst other things, that those who currently serve or who have served, as well as their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. The Covenant Legal Duty obliges certain local public bodies to have due regard to the Covenant principles when conducting functions in healthcare, education, and housing. Local authorities are subject to this legal obligation in relation to social housing and homelessness.