Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's report, a Better Defence Estate, published in November 2016, how many times his Department has met service family federations and Ministry of Defence trade unions to discuss plans for the defence estate.

"A Better Defence Estate" is a military-led report.

The Service Chiefs have been closely engaged with the formation of these plans including the Chief of Defence People who sets the strategy for developing a capable and motivated military and civilian work force. Now that the Department's intentions have been announced through the publication of "A Better Defence Estate", Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials will meet with service family federations to discuss plans. Consolidating the Defence Estate around capability and regional clusters will help to support this by providing additional stability to Service personnel and their families.

In the twelve months leading up to the publication of "A Better Defence Estate", there were eleven meetings between MOD and Trades Union officials at which these plans were discussed. The Department has also committed to further detailed engagement on the plans.