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Armed Forces

My Lords, it is entirely appropriate that the first photograph of a serviceman in the Command Paper is of a Royal Marine—the photograph is on page 7, in chapter 1, ““The Context””. He is, I believe, a member of the Armoured Support Group and was in the Royal Gallery the other day at the reception for serving members of the Armed Forces. He lost his legs as a result of an improvised explosive device. Such devices are a continuing and major hazard in Afghanistan. Another member of the crew of the vehicle was Marine Dale Gostick, who tragically lost his life. There have been many unsung heroes in the Afghanistan conflict, but none more heroic and none more courageous than the members of the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group. They have had very little respite over the years of this conflict. They have been deployed with all the leading fighting formations. Their job is hazardous in the extreme and they have brought a new and effective dimension to our capability in this theatre of operations. I am sure that I speak for the whole House in expressing profound gratitude and admiration to all the members of this unit. I welcome the Command Paper, out of which arise a number of questions. First, will the Minister say what steps the Government are taking to ensure that there are opportunities for personnel severely wounded and disabled on active service to remain with their corps, regiments or units in administrative or clerical roles, if they wish to do so? Secondly, I emphasise the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever, that the delays and inadequacies of the air bridge to Afghanistan and Iraq are causing major morale problems for service personnel and their families. It is imperative that this is sorted out without delay. I was interested to read early in the paper that, as the Minister said, the Armed Forces constituency in total is in excess of 10 million people. It is reassuring, therefore, that no Government can afford to neglect the needs and requirements of those who serve our country with such courage and commitment. This paper is correct to state in paragraph 2.2: "““Service personnel and their families make a vital contribution to the whole of the United Kingdom””." As to the Armed Forces compensation scheme, I welcome the recent doubling of the lump sum payment. Are there proposals to increase the guaranteed income payment? Will the Minister confirm that the guaranteed income is free of tax and national insurance deductions? Will she also let me have by letter details of the categories of severity of injury and wounds relating to the lump sum payment and the index-linked annual payments? The paper goes on to discuss education and training for service leavers. These provisions are welcome. I know that the Minister and noble Lords will agree that retiring sailors, Royal Marines, soldiers and airmen have great skills and qualities to offer the outside world. These personnel continue to be in much demand and I was delighted to read the statistic in paragraph 3.18 of the paper. As to the commitment bonus or re-engagement premium, to whom do these payments apply? This includes their length of service and rank. Which units of the Armed Forces have the benefit of being able to take up the offer? I hear that the system is extremely complex and confusing. People do not understand the terms, which could be made simpler. How many people have taken up the commitment bonus so far and for how much longer will it last? Will the Minister also elaborate on the tax and national insurance status of these payments? It would be interesting to hear from her exactly what the conditions are for the longer separation allowance and how much is payable. Right at the start—at paragraph 1.1—the Command Paper demonstrates the breadth of the operations in which our Armed Forces have been involved for over 20 years. It is a formidable list of challenges, all of which have been overcome. Most of those engagements have been dependent on our amphibious capability. Without that capability, we would lose much of our global influence. The key to a successful future defence strategy for the country must be not only the nuclear submarine deterrent but our ability to project force and engage in humanitarian operations through our amphibious fleet and our expeditionary expertise. That calls for a strong Navy well equipped with the right ships. It is interesting to note that, even with the huge commitment in Afghanistan, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines manage to fit in amphibious exercises, practising skills honed over many decades. Amphibious or expeditionary operations require considerable know-how, expertise and practice. That expertise must be preserved, notwithstanding the fact that 40 Commando Royal Marines returned from Afghanistan earlier this year and that 3 Commando Brigade, with 42 and 45 Commando, are currently spearheading our efforts in Afghanistan. That is how it should be: they are the elite fighting troops and represent the significant Royal Naval contribution to operations. Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind the vital importance of preserving our expeditionary capability. HMS ““Ocean””, the landing platform helicopter ship—I always call them commando ships, which is the old-fashioned expression—was launched over 10 years ago and built to a civilian specification. We fortunately now have two assault ships—landing platform docks—the ““Bulwark”” and the ““Albion””, but we only have one helicopter carrier. I very much welcome the placing of orders for the two aircraft carriers and I hope that the Government will soon order aircraft to fly from them. The Government must, however, initiate the construction of a new helicopter carrier in the near future. I congratulate our Armed Forces on their exemplary and courageous commitment and their loyalty to this country. They always exceed the high expectations that we have of them.