Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of including all bereaved armed services children in the Virtual Schools framework as set out in the Scotty’s Little Soldiers' Abeona pilot project in partnership with Norfolk County Council.

I am grateful for the excellent support that Scotty's Little Soldiers provides to bereaved Service children. When I met with Scotty's Little Soldiers, on 4 February 2020, I was heartened to hear about their work, including the Abeona pilot programme.

While the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has no plans to discuss this matter with the Department for Education, MOD officials are engaged with Scotty's Little Soldiers and partners at the local level to understand the benefits of the programme in Norfolk and to learn whether this might be more widely applicable.