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Proceeding contribution from Lord Stirrup (Crossbench) in the House of Lords on Monday, 16 May 2011. It occurred during Ministerial statement on Armed Forces Covenant.


Armed Forces Covenant

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement, which has much in it to be welcomed. However, is not a key point of enshrining a requirement in law that there should be a remedy if the requirement is not met? In this case, the remedy seems to be that Ministers will have to explain themselves in Parliament. However, as the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, pointed out, many issues that have caused such problems for our service families over the years are outwith the control of the Ministry of Defence. I refer, for example, to their inability to get access to dental services, to their having no choice of schooling for their children, and to their losing their place on NHS waiting lists when they move with their spouses. Given that fact, and accepting that devolved authorities are a different and difficult case to which we may wish to return, and given the particular nature of the remedy in this case, will the Minister say whether the Secretaries of State for the relevant departments—for example, health and education—will be held to account in Parliament at the time of the annual report, rather than just the Secretary of State for Defence?


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
727 c1187-8 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Conditions of employment Armed forces Annual reports Council tax Housing Finance IVF Schools Tax allowances Social services Prosthetics Armed forces compensation scheme Military Covenant Task Force Armed forces covenant Veterans
Legislation
Armed Forces Bill 2010-12
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk