Contributions
589 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)Amendment 16 would require that the chief executive of the Defence Housing Service reports directly to the Minister for the Armed Forces, which is my current role. In the way it…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)Perhaps that is why we are not taking it forward now. Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence heavily subsidises rents. There have been suggestions that the Defence Housing Service…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)New clause 7 would require there to be a feasibility study when establishing a forces housing association, but before I go into the detail, I will reflect on some of the comments…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I make it clear that we are not talking about amending the Renters’ Rights Act; we are talking about the Armed Forces Bill, but I am happy to take this offline and talk about the…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I fundamentally disagree. The review of single living accommodation will describe the complexity of the problems we have across the entire estate with both the shape and size of…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I can say that we are working flat out on the absolute shambles we were left by the Conservative party. I can also say, as the Defence Secretary said in the House, that £9 billion…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I believe that amendment 14, moved by the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford, is unnecessary. It is clear that the Defence Housing Service will have a service ethos at…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I can confirm that £9 billion will be secured to ensure that we get the defence housing strategy and the Defence Housing Service up and running. We have said that in Parliament…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I will get back to the right hon. Member with the exact numbers of housing officers and how much patch they will oversee and manage, depending on the different service contracts.…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)If the hon. Member will let me, I will come back to him with a specific timeline for the process. In reply to an earlier question, there are 122 housing officers in total, and the…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I put on record my thanks to the DIO team, Natalie Elphicke Ross and the collective armed forces for helping us to…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I completely accept that. There are just nuances and differences in the requirements, and that will be reflected in the outcomes of both reviews. Again, I offer that engagement—if…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I hope that I have provided the necessary reassurance to the right hon. Member. On those grounds, I ask him to withdraw his amendment.26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)My role, when it comes to defence investment, is primarily linked to uncrewed systems. I have been pushing as hard as I can to ensure that there is significant resource and…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I shall speak first to amendment 2. I thank the hon. Member for his engagement. The measures in the Bill build on 18 months of work to stop the rot in defence housing and build…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)Sorry, the right hon. Member. I do apologise; there is no requirement to retire yet.26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)It is absolutely right and proper that we do that. I would like to go a step further: we could probably organise a sit-down with Natalie Elphicke Ross and the team at the Defence…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)There is some confusion here. The Minister for the Armed Forces does not deal with the housing, the people or the welfare; he deals with the operation and policy output. There is…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)On the question of accountability, the board will report directly to the Secretary of State. There will be no filtering and no taint on any information coming up. Therefore, I do…26 Mar 2026HANSARDArmed Forces Bill (Third sitting)I thank the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford for tabling the amendment. I absolutely recognise the importance of facilitating contact visits between service personnel…26 Mar 2026