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Armed Forces Personnel

I understand that the hon. Gentleman’s operational bonus has now been paid. He made an interesting point in a previous debate, and it was taken in the right spirit. Clearly, we want to make sure that our people get their operational bonus. I am not aware of any further problems, but I assure him that we will double-check that. I know that he is talking about reservists as a whole, not just himself. Reference has been made to housing. We accept that the legacy of underinvestment goes back many years. The point was made that we have been in office for 10 years and have not solved the problem. The Conservative party was in office for 18 years, and the housing stock and estate that it handed over to us was not in a great state; we had to deal with more problems and difficulties. We accept our responsibility, and I hope that the Opposition accept responsibility for what they did not do in government. We need to get on with the work and improve the housing stock and estate as much as possible. It is like painting the Forth bridge, but we have allocated £5 billion over the next 10 years. Single living accommodation is being improved massively, and service family accommodation is also being improved. There is more to do, and if we can do more than is currently planned in the coming years, we will do so. It will take some time to reach the desired stage. As part of the strategic remuneration review, the Government are considering how we can give further help to members of the armed forces to buy a house or equity in a property. Given the changes in the coming years in relation to super-garrisons and other basing strategies, that is the way to go. Most Members would support that, but work is ongoing, and we will make an announcement at the appropriate time. Housing advice is provided to service leavers, and we have developed several projects to support those who become homeless. There was a particular problem with homelessness in London, and that has been reduced significantly. The announcement today on local connection has been welcomed by the House, and many Members of the House have pushed for the change. The situation in Scotland has been mentioned, and we will take that up with the Administration there. In relation to recruitment and retention, supporting families and providing good accommodation is very important. Having that support and stability at home is crucial to members of our armed forces serving in operations, not least in Iraq and Afghanistan. The service families federations also do an important job in that regard. We are aware that our families need to be given the best possible support. Cadets are not often mentioned in debates on the Floor of the House, so I just want to make a few comments about them. They are a huge success story, with 130,000 young people spread over 3,000 villages, towns and cities. They are one of the biggest youth organisations in the United Kingdom. Through the cadets, young people from all backgrounds gain valuable skills and experience, including problem-solving, leadership and physical training. I pay tribute to all of them and to the 26,000 adult volunteers who support and mentor them. I think that it is the best youth organisation in the country. We are keen to give increasing numbers of young people the opportunity to benefit from the cadets. That is why we decided to introduce a scheme to pilot the expansion of the combined cadet forces traditionally associated with public and grammar schools into a wider range of state schools. We have already announced the first five schools that will participate in the scheme, and I am delighted today to announce the sixth—Walker technology college in Newcastle upon Tyne. There is much to be done to prepare this new contingent, but based on the enthusiasm that we have already seen I think that that will be easily taken forward.