John Healey says the government has “a determination to renew the nation’s contract with those who serve, who have served, and Forces families” at the start of Armed Forces Week.

The Rawmarsh and Conisbrough MP and Defence Secretary, said “We are delivering for Defence and have made huge strides in the first year of Government alone, with ambition to go further.”

Since coming into office the government has:

  • Through the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill, started delivering on our manifesto commitment to establish an independent Armed Forces Commissioner, a brand new champion for our forces and their families, to improve service life for our forces and the families who support them.
  • Delivered the largest pay rise to the Armed Forces in over 20 years and ensured for the first time ever that every member of the Armed Forces is paid at least the national living wage.
  • Committed over £1.5 billion extra this parliament to tackle the poor state of forces accommodation and will launch a Defence Housing Strategy later this year.
  • Set out plans expanding wraparound childcare to support service families deployed overseas.
  • Taken a number of steps to improve support to Veterans including launching VALOUR, supported by £50 million of funding to establish a new network of VALOUR-recognised support centres across the UK and deploy Regional Field Officers to connect local, regional and national services.
  • Announced plans to boost Cadet Forces by 30% by 2030, creating opportunities for 42,000 more young people and supporting people from a more diverse range of backgrounds into a career in the Armed Forces.

The government is also committed to putting the Armed Forces covenant fully into law, to ensure fairness and respect for our veterans and their families.

John Healey MP said:

“Our Armed Forces embody many of the attributes the British people value most: discipline, dedication, solidarity, pride, sense of humour and sense of service. Theirs is the ultimate public service. Willing to commit their lives to protecting the rest of the nation.

“The world is changing; threats increasing; and we’re in a new era for Defence. As we ask more of our Armed Forces, so they have a right to expect more from us, to expect more from their government – and in the last year, we have rightly started to deliver long-overdue: better pay, better housing, better kit, better support for families.

“I’m proud of what our government has delivered for service personnel in just 11 months of office.

“We know that the need to reconnect Britain with serving personnel is more important than ever and we must strengthen links between our Armed Forces community and society.”