Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 6 December 2010, Official Report, column 7WS, what consideration his Department has given to the articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when making new policy and legislation since May 2015.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the wider Government are fully committed to considering the impact on children of all new policies and legislation. We comply with relevant children's legislation and the MOD contributes to the Government's periodic reports, with evidence about the recruitment of under-18s, to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We take our duty of care for under-18s joining the Armed Forces extremely seriously; we recognise their care and welfare requires particular attention. Our safeguards are therefore robust, effective, and independently verified, including through regular OFSTED inspections of the training environment.