Parliamentary Questions

Parliamentary Questions

During the course of 2020 and long before the C-19 Lockdown the Women Veterans Task Force has been busy campaigning for change. We would like to take the opportunity to thank Patron Sarah Atherton MP , the only female former regular member of the Armed Forces in the House of Commons. Sarah set up a sub-group of the Defence Select Committee to take evidence from women serving in the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. The forum provides the opportunity for personnel to talk, with the assurance of anonymity, about their experiences of bullying, harassment and sexual abuse in the forces.

It comes amid concerns that the conviction rate for rape in the military justice system is up to six times worse than in civilian courts. Women are also significantly overrepresented, compared with men, in the proportion of complaints submitted annually within the Armed Forces. Female personnel comprise 12 per cent of the military, but submitted 23 per cent of complaints in 2019. Almost four in 10 complaints made by women were about bullying, harassment and discrimination.

We would also like to thank the following MP’s for asking and answering the following Parliamentary Questions:

Caroline Noakes MP
The Ministry of Defence has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (51914):
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to extend the period beyond three years in which service personnel can report historic allegations of serious sexual assault. (51914)
Tabled on: 01 June 2020
Answer: Johnny Mercer: 
The Service Justice System does not have a time limit in regard to bringing cases of sexual assault. The Service Police will continue to investigate any allegations of historic serious sexual offence brought to their attention.
The answer was submitted on 04 Jun 2020 at 11:48.

Khalid Mahmood MP
The Ministry of Defence has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (65944):
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to procure anatomically specific body armour for female service personnel.
(65944)Tabled on: 29 June 2020
Answer: Jeremy Quin:
Our VIRTUS body armour has eight different sizes of Scalable Tactical Vest and three for the frame. It can therefore be configured in a multitude of ways dependent on the size and shape of the wearer. Studies are continuing which explore further options for body armour that comes in different sizes and shapes in order to optimise the fit and reduce physical burden on all users.
The answer was submitted on 02 Jul 2020 at 14:23.

Sharon Hodges MP
The Ministry of Defence has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (63249):
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that female service personnel are provided with sanitary products when on operations.
(63249)Tabled on: 23 June 2020
Answer: James Heappey:
The policy on provision of sanitary products to Service personnel overseas is currently under review. I will write to the hon. Member to update her once that review is completed.

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial support is available to female veterans who require child care when they access specialist support or therapy. (63250)
Tabled on: 23 June 2020
Answer: Johnny Mercer:
The requested information is not held by the Ministry of Defence. This type of support would be provided by the Local Authority in the specific geographical area that the female veteran resided.

However, NHS England actively encourage all their providers to offer veterans flexible appointments that help them to access services (in terms of time or location) and have partnership arrangements with Armed Forces charities that can provide assessed childcare support and funding.

The Government provides a significant package of childcare support to parents and carers, including our 30 hours offer for working parents of three and four year olds which has rolled out successfully, benefiting around 600,000 children in the first two years of delivery.

All three and four year olds, and the most disadvantaged two year olds, are able to access 15 hours a week of early education. From September 2017, the Government doubled the childcare entitlement for working parents of three and four year olds to 30 hours per week.

The Government also offers Tax-Free Childcare for every £8 parents pay their provider via an online account, the government will pay £2 up to a maximum contribution of £2,000 per child each year, for children under 12. There is also support available for parents with childcare costs outside of the free early education entitlements for lower income families. For example, eligible families can get help with 85% of their childcare costs through Universal Credit, subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1,108 for two or more children.

Further information on all Government childcare offers can be found at the following link: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
The answer was submitted on 30 Jun 2020 at 12:19.

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many female armed forces service personnel were (a) absent without leave (b) charged with desertion or (c) registered with military and civilian police as a missing person in each year since 2015. (76634)
Tabled on: 20 July 2020
Answer: Johnny Mercer:
The information available on female Armed Forces Service personnel who have been absent without leave (AWOL) or charged with desertion in each of the last five years is provided in the tables below.

The Ministry of Defence holds no information on missing persons in the United Kingdom as this is a matter for the civilian police forces. There are no records of any female Service personnel being reported to the Service Police as a missing person overseas in the last five years.

Notes:

Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 to preserve anonymity. Where the number is less than 5, the symbol ~ has been used. All figures are single Service estimates and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics.

The AWOL figures in the table are for the number of AWOL offences reported, not the number of personnel who have gone AWOL. An individual may be recorded as AWOL more than once in this time period.

The figures for Recorded AWOL and Desertion charges have been compiled from different sources and have not been cross-checked. The answer was submitted on 24 Jul 2020 at 12:02.

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what consultation process he has put in place for the chair of the people committee’s review into his Department’s progress implementing the Wigston review recommendations. (85970)
Tabled on: 07 September 2020
Answer: Johnny Mercer:
At the request of the Secretary of State, Danuta Gray (Non-Executive Director and Chair of the People Committee) agreed to conduct a 'one year on' review of the Wigston Report. The review commenced on the first anniversary of the Wigston Report (15 July 2020) and will run for three months. It will examine the progress that has been made by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Head Office and the Armed Forces in implementing the recommendations. In conducting the review, Ms Gray is keen to understand the experience and perspective of the widest range of Defence personnel possible and will therefore engage with senior officers from the single Services and MOD Civil Service, as well as a broad range of personnel at ranks and grades below that. A report will be published later in the year.
The answer was submitted on 10 Sep 2020 at 11:32.

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2020 to Question 85970 on Inappropriate Behaviours in the Armed Forces Review, what the terms of reference are for Danuta Gray’s one year on review of the Wigston report. (88829)
Tabled on: 11 September 2020
This question was grouped with the following question(s) for answer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2020 to question 85970 on Inappropriate Behaviours in the Armed Forces Review, whether he has plans in place for the consultation of (a) charities, (b) Community Interest Companies and (c) other stakeholders for Danuta Gray’s one year on review of the Wigston report. (88830)
Tabled on: 11 September 2020
Answer: Johnny Mercer:
Danuta Gray began her Review on 15 July 2020 and the terms of reference are attached. The Review seeks to assess progress made against the Wigston recommendations over the past year. Tackling unacceptable behaviour requires a culture change, therefore Ms Gray's Review has engaged with personnel at all ranks and grades, with Non-Executive Directors and private sector experts; it has also been informed by a range of studies and feedback. Culture change is a long-term process and the Wigston Review estimated it would take five to ten years to make a measurable difference; it is too early to consult on a wider basis, but future work is likely to include liaison with Service charities.

The Ministry of Defence has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (98162):
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans have contracted covid-19 while living in Veteran specific accommodation projects. (98162)
Tabled on: 01 October 2020
Answer: Johnny Mercer :
The Ministry of Defence does not track service personnel once they have left the Armed Forces and therefore the information requested is not held.
The answer was submitted on 07 Oct 2020 at 15:26.