Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to implement all the recommendations in the Haythornthwaite Review into Armed Forces Incentivisation.

The Government is committed to renewing the nation’s contract with those who serve. We have already taken action including delivering the largest pay rise for our Armed Forces in over 20 years, expanding wraparound childcare support for Service families deployed overseas and introducing legislation to establish an independent Armed Forces Commissioner.

We welcome the Haythornthwaite Report, which was published under the previous Government and have engaged with Rick Haythornthwaite to discuss our plans to deliver widespread improvements to service personnel life. This activity is being coordinated through a portfolio approach and includes numerous programmes and projects that directly address the report’s recommendations. Implementation will be incremental, with targeted improvements evaluated and then potentially scaled up to the wider workforce. Several longer-term programmes are also underway to drive the culture change needed to embrace a total reward approach.