Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between morale and overstretched resources in the armed services; and what steps they intend to take to remedy this situation.

The management of morale in the Armed Forces is a high priority for Defence. The Department seeks to measure morale in a robust, consistent and scientific manner, through forums such as the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey. Morale is influenced by many variables and the Department has made no specific assessment of a relationship with resourcing.

We have launched the Armed Forces Families Strategy and the Armed Forces Covenant to improve the Service Offer and lived experience of Service personnel.

We are also developing a number of other initiatives under the Armed Forces People Programme which is focused on modernising the employment offer for Service personnel to allow us to attract and retain the right mix of people and skills.