Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what initiatives he has introduced to support the recruitment and retention of women in the armed forces.
The Ministry of Defence aims to significantly improve the recruitment and retention of women in the Armed Force; our ambition is to achieve 30% inflow of women by 2030. To realise this goal, the single Services have taken a range of steps to improve the experience of women in the Armed Forces, as we continue to do for all serving personnel. This includes all roles being open to women, targeted programmes to increase the recruitment of women, introducing flexible service, flexible and parental leave, the provision of sanitary boxes, and reviewing women specific combat requirements. We are committed to building on these improvements to give women greater confidence that a career in the Armed Forces is a fantastic opportunity and will not be limited by outdated or regressive policy.