Military families will benefit from new legislation, introduced today, to create a new, standalone Defence Housing Service to renew tens of thousands of military homes and address years of underinvestment as government vows to renew the nation’s contract with those who serve by delivering better housing, services and boosting protections for those who serve.
The Armed Forces Bill, introduced to parliament today, will for the first time extend the Armed Forces Covenant across all areas of central government, devolved governments, and local authorities – fulfilling a manifesto promise. This means social care, employment support and other public services will be legally required to consider the unique circumstances faced by forces personnel and their families.
Delivering on the £9 billion Defence Housing Strategy announced in November, the government is putting forces families first by establishing a dedicated body focused on delivering the homes military personnel deserve. The legislation will establish the Defence Housing Service, which will turbocharge a generational renewal of nine in ten forces homes while kickstarting the development of 100,000 homes on surplus defence land, with personnel and veterans the first in line.
As part of a new Consumer Charter for forces homes, the Ministry of Defence committed to urgently upgrade homes most in need of refurbishment. Rapid improvement works were completed on 1,000 homes ahead of schedule and in time for Christmas as we marked the one-year anniversary of the return to public ownership of more than 36,000 homes. In recognition of the Bill being introduced, the Defence Secretary is in Scotland today, visiting some of the over 200 houses in Helensburgh that are being upgraded under the same programme.
Through the Consumer Charter, the Government is implementing robust accommodation standards, modernised policies allowing personalisation of homes, and introduces a named Housing Officer for each family to provide enhanced support. The newly introduced Defence Housing Service will go even further, improving engagement with forces families, overseeing higher standards, and offering a new approach to the development of surplus defence land.
New measures are also being introduced through the Armed Forces Bill to strengthen the UK’s Strategic Reserve (former Service personnel with an Ex Regular and Recall Reserve liability), to help Defence draw on their valuable skills and experiences in times of crisis. Defence is taking decisive action to boost readiness and deliver on the first duty of government – to keep its citizens safe. The Bill includes measures that will affect our Regular and Volunteer Reserve personnel’s liability for recall after they leave service. The key changes will
- Increase the maximum age for call from 55 to 65
- Align the time for which recall applies across all three services
- Lower the threshold for recall so that Reservists can be recalled for ‘warlike preparations’ in addition to the current requirement for ‘national danger, great emergency or attack on the UK’
With these changes, the UK is aligning with similar measures already used by NATO allies including the United States, France, Germany and Poland. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how integrating civilian skills with military capability strengthens national defence.
Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said
Our Armed Forces make extraordinary sacrifices to keep this country safe. In return, they deserve homes fit for their families and the support of a nation that proudly values their service.
This Bill delivers rapidly on our commitment to renew the nation’s contract with those who serve. Through this legislation, a new Defence Housing Service will drive the biggest improvement in forces accommodation for a generation, we will ensure reserve forces can step up when needed and we will extend legal protections so that every part of government considers the needs of our service personnel and their families.
The Bill will also strengthen support and protection for victims of the most serious offences, boost protection for any serving person who may be a victim of a serious crime or sexual offence, by both improving guidance and support available to them when they need it most and introducing protections to reduce the risk of further harm. This delivers on the government’s manifesto commitment to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade.
The conflict in Ukraine has highlighted the growing threat posed by uncrewed devices, and it is essential that we have the power and authority to protect our most critical military sites from any current or future threat. The Bill recognises that need by introducing new powers that would see personnel deter, detect and defeat drone incursions over the Defence Estate.
The package of measures introduced today builds on the government’s commitment to renew the contract with those who serve. It follows personnel being awarded the largest pay rise in over 20 years, the introduction of the Armed Forces Commissioner to act as an independent voice for personnel and families, and the scrapping of 100 outdated recruitment policies.
