Written question asked by Jason McCartney (Conservative) on Monday, 6 September 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 September 2010. It was answered by Lord Robathan (Conservative) on Wednesday, 15 September 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Housing

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what account his Department takes of (a) children for whom armed forces personnel do not have full custody, (b) children of armed forces personnel over the age of 18 years who wish to live with their families and (c) elderly relatives for whom armed forces personnel wish to care when allocating service families' accommodation.

Answer: [holding answer 13 September 2010]: We take our responsibilities towards families seriously and will consider a range of individual circumstances when determining eligibility for Service Families Accommodation. This includes wider welfare needs such as maintaining contact with children or caring for an elderly relative.Children under the age of 25, who are not married and are in full-time education, are considered to remain dependent upon parents and as such generate an entitlement for the parents. Where there are non-dependent young adults we will do all we can to allocate a property to reflect a specific need, but this is subject to availability.

Secondary information