Speeches by Carns.

“I, too, have lived in married quarters and seen repairs being poorly dealt with. They were either overly expensive or fixed the wrong thing altogether. Could you talk me through the consumer charter and how on-site housing officers will help to facilitate better management of contractual change and housing repairs?”

“Thank you for the collaborative and polite way in which you are dealing with these questions.”

“Sorry, Natalie. Could you say that again? I could not hear you.”

“A very simple question: do you think standardising the Reserve recall times between officers and other ranks will, first, make it easier to map and track the data, and secondly, give you a better picture of who is available for recall and who isn’t?”

“I have been out speaking to the armed forces, and a lot of the reservists, particularly in the RAF, were quite concerned that they had to leave at 55. A lot of this was driven internally by individuals, air traffic controllers, who are maybe not at their peak physical fitness but who could still offer hugely valuable s…”

“When we look into how to gather the data and understand who we need to recall, we have some limited records in HMRC and Defence. Would you agree that a data-led ability to map and track our reservists or individuals with recall liability and to understand what professions and capabilities they have once they have left …”

“Lord Peach, do you agree that our inability to communicate effectively to our people—both when they join and when they leave—about the recall Reserve and the issuing of veteran ID cards creates quite a complicated and confusing picture for them when they leave the military?”

“Thank you very much for your service, Richard, and thank you for attending the Committee today. To what extent will the Bill’s provisions meet the aspirations in the Strategic Defence Review to increase the number of active reservists by 20% and to increase the readiness of the UK Armed Forces?”

“Are there any measures that ought to be included in the Bill to enhance the capacity and capability of the Reserves?”

“General, outside the SDR are there any specific points in the Bill that you think need to be expanded or elaborated on?”

“Are you content that the Bill is heading in the right direction?”

“Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that often one of the problems is helping service personnel, veterans, their families and the bereaved to understand what is out there and available.”

“Could you give a quick summary of some of the good stuff that the DWP is doing in support of the Armed Forces Covenant?”

“From a statutory guidance perspective, on implementation what does it need to contain to help your Department? Is there anything that we need to do to change it, make it more forceful and enable you to deliver the outputs?”

“The issue is that the Covenant is coming in, and the legal duty on due regard and the statutory guidance are the overarching umbrella and framework for local councils to follow. A couple of comments have been made today about guidance to ensure that the Covenant is not forgotten or left on the side. Every time I have m…”

“First, I would like to thank you all for your continued efforts for the Covenant and the armed forces community. This is really an open‑ended question, but how do you think the implementation of centrally funded VALOUR officers, based in a data‑led network, may support our ability to implement the Covenant and provide …”

“Do you think there should be an English veterans commissioner?”

“Thank you all very much for your support for veterans all over the country. I really appreciate all your hard work. I have spoken to the representative Ministers within your devolved Administrations. I suppose this is focused on you, David. Do you foresee difficulties in applying the Covenant duty in Northern Ireland, …”

“A theme that I have a feeling we are going to pick up throughout the evidence session is co-ordination, coherence and, particularly, consistency in the implementation of the Covenant across Government Departments, local authorities and all the different bodies that we rely on. What would you like to see to help us—not …”

“First, I would like to thank you for your service. I always say that, when one person serves, the whole family does, so thank you very much for everything and for all the support you have given me over the last year and a half. The Covenant extends due regard to a multitude of different policy areas. Do you think they …”