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Defence in the UK

I could name the people to whom I have spoken, and the right hon. Gentleman could name the person to whom he has spoken. We are being given two different stories; one never knows, perhaps the same people are saying two different things. I have heard no detrimental comments from the people with whom I have raised the subject of the changes that were made. People are saying that they are getting the support that they require and that there is the potential for improved support from the new arrangements. That is the feedback that I have been given, so perhaps we need to continue this conversation with people outside the House—I am sure that we will continue it with people inside the House too. British military training is considered to be the best in the world. No other institution in the United Kingdom provides such a broad range of high-quality training and education, which is evident, for example, in our apprenticeship delivery programme. On average, more than 20,000 people leave the armed services each year, and, overwhelmingly, they are better educated, fitter and more highly skilled, and they have a higher level of confidence, a strong work ethic and a team spirit, when they leave—no wonder they are quickly snapped up by employers. We still have problems with our training that we need to tackle—for example, bullying is something that the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence will not tolerate. The vast majority of recruits who come through training have a very positive experience, and we act quickly to resolve the issues for the small number who experience bullying or have any other grievance. We are proud of the fact that complaints can now be referred to the completely independent service complaints commissioner, and our training establishments are subject to ongoing scrutiny by external, independent authorities. The nub of the issue is whether we can eradicate bullying entirely and still keep our training sufficiently robust, hard and challenging to prepare young people for the demands of combat. Both the Chief of the General Staff and I think that it is possible to do so, and we are committed to working towards that end. As in all areas of defence, we continue to examine how we can improve training. The House is aware of the defence training review programme. The review will transform how we deliver specialist phase 2 and phase 3 technical training on a defence-wide basis, and, once complete, will help us to adjust to changes in demand, to make more efficient and effective use of training personnel, to improve accommodation and to make better and more efficient use of the training estate.