Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Monday 8th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I have some recommendations for other defence holiday tourism, if my hon. Friend would like some. He is absolutely right to raise the importance of skills. There are huge opportunities across the nation in defence industries, but we need the workforce of the future to deliver them. That is why, in the defence industrial strategy being announced this afternoon, he will see more investment in skills, not just in defence technical colleges of excellence but in schools and university clusters, to maximise the opportunity to enhance our skills offer and make defence an engine for growth everywhere in the country.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

21. What steps he is taking to improve the welfare of armed forces personnel.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Louise Sandher-Jones)]

The armed forces welfare support policy, JSP 770, underwent a full review and was published in January 2025. It now includes updated information and guidance to ensure that welfare support structures are appropriate, accurate and informative for service personnel and their families. Welfare support lies within the chain of command, with commanding officers overseeing the delivery of welfare support within their units.

[Liz Twist]

One of Labour’s key manifesto commitments was to give our armed forces greater representation through the creation of an Armed Forces Commissioner—a promise that we have made good on with the passing of the Armed Forces Commissioner Act 2025 last week. How does the Minister expect that to improve the lives of our service personnel and their families?

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

As my hon. Friend rightly notes, the Armed Forces Commissioner Act, as I can now refer to it, received Royal Assent last week, which is a fantastic step forward. As she highlights, there is more to do; there are many aspects of service life where even small changes could make a massive difference to the overall experience of service personnel.