Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Turmaine Excerpts
Monday 30th June 2025

(1 day, 12 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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The Secretary of State was asked—
Matt Turmaine Portrait Matt Turmaine (Watford) (Lab)
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1. What steps he is taking to improve housing for armed forces families.

Euan Stainbank Portrait Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)
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13. What steps he is taking to improve housing for armed forces families.

John Healey Portrait The Secretary of State for Defence (John Healey)
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With your indulgence, Mr Speaker, on behalf of those serving in our armed forces, I would like to thank you for the parliamentary flag-raising ceremony to mark the start of Armed Forces Week last Monday. I thank hon. Members across the House for the support that they gave to more than 200 local Armed Forces Day events over the weekend.

On housing, we are a Government who are delivering for defence. In January, we bought back 36,000 military homes into public ownership. In April, we launched a consumer charter to deliver basic housing rights and standards. In May, we announced an additional £1.5 billion for forces family homes—part of £7 billion that we will invest in military accommodation in the next five years.

Matt Turmaine Portrait Matt Turmaine
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I meet servicemen, servicewomen and veterans in my constituency at events such as Remembrance Day and the recent VE commemorations. We all know the challenges that servicemen and women have had with housing and its quality in recent years. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is this Labour Government who are finally making them proud?

John Healey Portrait John Healey
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Indeed. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his strong working links with veterans in Watford. He is right: as he will recognise, my hon. Friend the Minister for Veterans and People recently launched Operation Valour, the first ever UK-wide approach to veteran support, with £50 million of funding to establish a new network of Valour-recognised support centres right across the country.