Asked by: Andrew Griffiths (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people serving in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Marines, (c) Royal Air Force and (d) Army were convicted of (i) possession of and (ii) supplying illegal drugs in each of the last five years.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Drug use is unacceptable in the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence has a policy of Compulsory Drug Testing which seeks to reinforce that message. Providing a positive result, indicating the presence of illegal drugs, will almost certainly result in an administrative discharge. Positive rates in the Armed Forces over the last few years average less than 0.5%, which is significantly lower than the latest British Crime survey (2013/14) which reports one in 11 (8.8%) of adults aged 16 to 59 have taken an illegal drug in the last year.
The following tables provide information on the number of convictions in the Military Court Service in each requested year. Numbers provided for the category of ‘possession’ include convictions by a Commanding Officer at a Summary Hearing; offences relating to the supply of illegal drugs cannot be dealt with at Summary Hearing level.
Convictions for possession of drugs
Service | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Navy | - | - | - | - | - |
Army | 10 | 10 | 10 | - | - |
RAF | - | - | - | - | - |
Convictions for supplying illegal drugs
Service | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Army | - | - | - | - | - |
‘-’ Five or less. Note: Figures have been rounded to 10. There were no relevant convictions in either category among Royal Marines personnel and also no convictions for supplying illegal drugs among Navy and RAF personnel.
Asked by: Andrew Griffiths (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of military veterans in emergency accommodation.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold this information. Emergency accommodation is provided by local authorities and charitable organisations, working with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping is a key priority for this Government. The MOD works closely with DCLG to honour the commitments made by the Armed Forces Covenant to ensure fair treatment of Service families in need of social housing and ensure they are given proper priority on housing waiting lists.
In 2014, LIBOR funding was used to launch the £40 million Veterans Accommodation Fund (VAF). The most recently announced VAF project was £8.5 million to the Aldershot Accommodation Pathway, which caters for veterans making the transition from hostel accommodation to independent living. Approximately 275 vulnerable, injured or sick ex-Service personnel from across the country will benefit.
The MOD provides extensive help to minimise the risk of military personnel becoming homeless on leaving the Armed Forces through the provision of targeted housing advice during resettlement and the Forces Help to Buy Scheme.
As an indication of the current position, according to the latest figures, 5% of people sleeping rough in London once served in the UK Armed Forces, whereas around one in ten of the UK adult population is a veteran.
Asked by: Andrew Griffiths (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of military veterans receiving support for (a) mental health and (b) alcohol related issues.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The provision of veterans' healthcare, including mental health and alcohol related issues, is primarily the responsibility of the National Health Service in England and the Devolved Administrations. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not made an estimate of the number of veterans receiving such support.
The Government has made great progress with improving the services provided to meet veterans' mental health needs, including the implementation of all of the recommendations in my hon. Friend, the Member for South West Wiltshire, Dr Andrew Murrison's 'Fighting Fit' report.
These measures include: an increase in the number of mental healthcare professionals; a dedicated 24-hour helpline in partnership with Combat Stress; an on-line mental health support and advice website provided by the Big White Wall; structured mental health assessment as part of routine and discharge medicals; and the Veterans Information Service, who contact recent Service leavers to make them aware of mental health and other support available in the community. Veterans are entitled to priority access to healthcare for conditions suspected to be due to their service in the Armed Forces (subject to the clinical needs of others).
The MOD has a wide range of measures in place to discourage alcohol misuse in the Armed Forces, including education, training and treatment. Sensible, moderate consumption of alcohol can play an important part in the military culture, but the benefits must always be balanced against the hazards of misuse.
Asked by: Andrew Griffiths (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many children live on (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy, (c) Marines and (d) Royal Air Force bases (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Griffiths (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many families are resident on (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy, (c) Marines and (d) Royal Air Force bases (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.