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Armed Forces

My Lords, once the UORs are adapted into mainstream equipment, they are dealt with in exactly the same way as anything else in terms of maintenance. That of course is covered by operational costs when the equipment is in operation. I wanted to say a word about the suggestion that the Treasury is clawing back more than the £2 billion spent already on UORs. That is not correct. The only difference is the new arrangements for the future; I have already outlined what they will be. Perhaps I may say a few words about such matters as harmony and morale. I was glad to hear Members of this House echoing Nicholas Soames MP, who said: "““Anyone who visits the troops on operations will be amazed at the high standard of their morale””.—[Official Report, Commons, 12/11/07; col. 440.]" Noble Lords have explained why we should expect that to be the case in an operational situation and it is right that that is put on record, because there have been suggestions that morale is not always so high. It is important not only that morale is high, but that we acknowledge it and work to maintain it. We do not want to downplay the difficulties that some individuals and their families have been placed in and we realise that the scale of the operations has meant that harmony guidelines on intervals between operational tours have been breached for some personnel, as mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Park, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew. The figures that I have suggest that the breach of harmony is less than 1 per cent for the Royal Navy and is running at 10.3 per cent for the Army and 6.2 per cent for the RAF. There are of course pinch points with particular specialisms that make this worse in certain areas, but those are the figures that we have. I have to say that we expect our drawdown of forces in Iraq, the Balkans and Northern Ireland to help us to reduce those pressures and we are hopeful that we will get the Armed Forces nearer to the normal operational cycle. However, we recognise the difficulties that exist for many people. Perhaps I may say a word about the covenant, which is important to many people in this House and many more outside it. A great deal has been said about the military covenant, so I must start by assuring the House that the Government are fully committed to meeting their responsibility for serving personnel, veterans and their families. We have overseen a very long-standing programme of improvements in service pay, accommodation, health and welfare provision and force protection. Although we recognise that more can be done, we are making real progress on some of these problems, which have existed for a very long time indeed, far longer than this Government have been in power. Unfortunately, I therefore have to reject what the noble Viscount, Lord Slim, said about the covenant being broken. I hear what he says and I understand his concerns and the concerns of many. However, the obligations are there and accepted. Our proposed changes in compensation, improvements to health facilities and—perhaps particularly—recently in accommodation are significant. I was asked about fast-tracking within the health service and whether it would apply to everyone. I say as an aside that there was a pilot project in Hull where all veterans were accepted in that way, and the Department of Health is assessing it with a view to rolling out improvements. I think that the House will welcome that. I should like to say a word about accommodation, another subject that featured significantly in the debate. It is another historical problem and people have been working very hard in recent years to improve the situation. For example, in the United Kingdom, 12,242 service family houses have been built or significantly upgraded in the past six years; the target had been only 7,100. The Comprehensive Spending Review settlement has guaranteed a ring-fenced £550 million, which, for noble Lords who mentioned it, I can confirm is from the sale of the Chelsea Barracks. It is ring-fenced money for investment in new accommodation and refurbishment. In addition, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State recently announced that a further £8 million will be made available over the next three years for the second phase of the single living accommodation modernisation project, which is 20 per cent higher than previous levels. It will allow 1,350 new en suite bed spaces to be built. As my noble friend Lady Dean said, expectations change and what was acceptable just a few years ago is not acceptable today. That is only part of our £5 billion commitment on accommodation over the next few years. I should say a word on inquests, an issue which has clearly caused concern to a number of people. I know from meetings with ministerial colleagues that the issue causes them great concern as well. The Ministry of Justice has recently increased funding to coroners’ courts with a view to helping alleviate the backlog. We recognise the distress that delays can cause to the families of people killed in action. We are conscious of the problem and are keen to move forward and help with it. Mention was made of the new Command Paper that the Government will be introducing on personnel issues and related matters. We recognise a duty to serving personnel, their families and veterans. Earlier this month, my ministerial colleagues therefore announced that we will have a cross-government strategy for supporting members of the defence community. It will cover all areas of support, including accommodation, medical care, welfare and education. The work will be led my right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces and will involve the military chain of command. It will outline future initiatives and measures, what we have done to date and how we can continue to make improvements. It will be the first time that any Government have developed a cross-Whitehall strategy for the Armed Forces. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Bramall, mentioned the treatment of returning soldiers. That fits in well with our comprehensive approach, as we are going to have a parallel study into encouraging greater engagement, understanding and pride in the UK Armed Forces by the nation as a whole. I am sure from his comments that the noble Lord, Lord Lyell, would welcome that as well. I would like to make many points—