Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve the specialist support available to bereaved military families.

Defence provides active and comprehensive support to the families of those Service personnel who die in Service. We take a holistic, multi-agency approach to supporting the bereaved with assistance provided through the single Services, the Defence Bereaved Families Group (DBFG) and Veterans Services.

Defence has recently undertaken several initiatives to improve this support including working to ensure that the bereaved community are clearly recognised and referenced as distinctly separate to any other cohort, through changes to official communication and language.

Additionally, the Purple Book (a guide that supports those responsible for handling the affairs and arrangements following a Service persons death) has recently undergone a full review following stakeholder engagement and consultation with representatives of bereaved families, to ensure its content was appropriate, accurate and informative; this was subsequently endorsed by the DBFG.