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1537493

registered interest
date	31/10/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many women serve in the armed forces.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	74912
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/11/2022 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Sarah Atherton) on 18 October 2022 to Question 60068.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison grouped question UIN 74913 question first answered 08/11/2022 17:34:06 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison attachment 1 file name UIN 60068.docx title Ministry of Defence: Females
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1488390

registered interest
date	12/07/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Select Committee's Fourth Special Report of Session 2021–22, Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report, HC154, what changes were made to the provision of wellbeing and healthcare support for servicewomen following the ‘six-month sprint’ to accelerate new Women’s Health Policies mentioned in that Response.
tabling member constituency	Oxford East
tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
uin	35043
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 June 2022 to Question 14581 to the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Stephanie Peacock).</p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 19/07/2022 13:33:50 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty attachment 1 file name UIN 14581.docx title Armed Forces: Females
tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds

1488393

registered interest
date	12/07/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s response to the Defence Sub-Committee’s report, Women in the Armed Forces: From Recruitment to Civilian Life, published on 2 December 2021, what changes his Department made to the purchase, maintenance and use of uniform and equipment provided to servicewomen following the six-month sprint to accelerate existing work to tackle uniform and equipment improvements referred to in that response.
tabling member constituency	Oxford East
tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
uin	35044
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 June 2022 to Question 14580 to the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Stephanie Peacock).</p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 19/07/2022 13:34:08 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty attachment 1 file name UIN 14580.docx title Armed Forces: Females
tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds

1488399

registered interest
date	12/07/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's response to the Defence Committee’s Second Report, Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life, published on 2 December 2021, when the Secretary of State and the Minister of State for Defence (Lords) have met representatives of servicewomen’s networks; and what the focus of those meetings was.
tabling member constituency	Oxford East
tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
uin	35046
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2022 answer text <p>The Secretary of State personally tested the Ministry of Defence's response with the Defence Service Women's Networks to ensure the important issues highlighted by the Report were comprehensively addressed and that no opportunity was missed to bring about meaningful and enduring change.</p><p>The Secretary of State and the Minister of State for Defence (Lords) are both committed to regularly meeting with representatives of our Servicewomen's Networks to understand the impact of changes being made and to enable our servicewomen to hold us to account and to identify opportunities for further continuous improvement.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 19/07/2022 13:28:56 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty
tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds

1468639

registered interest
date	08/06/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on its six month sprint to address uniform and equipment improvements, as committed to in the Government's response to the Women in the Armed Forces Report.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	14580
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2022 answer text <p>The uniform and clothing sprint has provided focus and effort to materially improve the provision of clothing and equipment for women across the Services with the following deliverables in train and completed:</p><p>The Personal Clothing System has been redesigned to improve the sizing and fit of the Combat Jacket, Trousers and Under-Body Armour Combat Shirt (UBACS), making them more inclusive for the user population. Proposed changes were reviewed by the Women in Ground Close Combat Forum, the Infantry Trials and Development Unit and other users in February 2022, alongside the technical clothing leads at Team Leidos. The improved garments are being trialled in Warminster by a range of users through June. Following a successful trial, the endorsed designs and sizes can be added to the existing contract. The garments should be available from December 2022.</p><p>Tranche 1 of the Narrow Scalable Tactical Vest (NSTV, part of the VIRTUS System) and accompanying Small Yoke have been delivered and are being added to the stores system by Army Logistic Support. Training on fitting of the survivability equipment is being improved with updated information available, along with NSTV, from August 2022. User feedback will be sought via an online questionnaire hosted on the VIRTUS Defence Connect Page, and will identify areas for further improvement/requirements, which can be addressed through Post-Design Services tasks.</p><p>All new recruits who require breast support and who are beginning their initial training in single Service training establishments are now issued with sports bras under separate single Service procurement arrangements.</p><p>Following the Defence Committee's Women in the Armed Forces report, a full review has been carried out on all Royal Navy (RN) uniform items to ensure equality for all. The developments already being taken forward include sports bras, overalls, rank boards and RIG22 (the new replacement for the existing Royal Naval Personal Clothing System). Further to the recent Army decision to support tailoring of Mess Kit post-maternity leave, the Navy are investigating transitioning to this policy (there is already an exchange policy for daily and formal uniforms on return from maternity leave).</p><p>The new 'RIG22' will replace the current RN Personal Clothing System and was introduced at the start of this year for hot climate deployers. It is a dynamic clothing system which maximises fire protection and is functional, modern and practical. Currently, there are 29 size options for the trousers and 31 size options for the shirts to ensure a better fit for more personnel than the items they replace. A female-specific Thermal Layer for RIG22 has been procured, and a female-specific Base Layer is in development. Maternity variants of the RIG22 Shirts, Trousers, Thermal Layer and Outer Layer (rain jacket) are also in development. The first issues of the new shirt and trouser commenced in January 2022 and almost 500 personnel now have the new kit. The rollout continues in earnest and by the middle of this year it will have been issued to almost 2,000 personnel. Phase 2 of the rollout, which will cover the remainder of the RN and Royal Fleet Auxiliary will commence from spring 2023.</p><p>RN personnel are authorised to purchase their own sports bras until a long-term contract has been let. The long-term contract for provision of sports bras to recruits will be active from mid-2023.</p><p>A full review has been carried out on all Royal Air Force (RAF) uniform items to ensure equality for all. The developments already being taken forward include amending the hip to waist ratio for female No 2 skirts and trousers, introducing the option for females to wear No 5 trousers and an updated maternity wear line.</p><p>A Special Cases for Uniform Entitlement policy is currently in progress and being ratified with the aim to allow RAF Officers to claim either tailored No 1s and new set of No 2s or a new set of No 1s and No 2s on return to the service after maternity leave/menopause. This is not exhaustive to pregnancy/menopause but forms part of the policy. The claimants have two years to claim with a supporting medical letter.</p><p>The RAF aim to address the requirement for a sports bra fitting service and supply of sports bras by providing an allowance to women prior to Phase 1 training. A temporary policy is currently being ratified which will allow for all women to claim for a sports bra, with a more permanent policy being introduced next year to allow women undertaking Phase 1 training to claim back the cost of a sports bra on entering service.</p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 17/06/2022 11:29:41 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1468640

registered interest
date	08/06/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress the Department has made on its six month sprint to deliver a range of new women’s health policies, as committed to in the Government's response to the Women in the Armed Forces Report.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	14581
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2022 answer text <p>In response to the House of Commons Defence Committee's 'Women in the Armed Forces' report, the Ministry of Defence stood up the Servicewomen's Health Improvement Focus Team, who have been working on initiatives which we aim to deliver in the summer of 2022. These initiatives are a menopause policy, a breastfeeding policy, a women's health education package, a review of sanitary protection and development of a disposal system, and the development of a urinary support device.</p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 17/06/2022 11:30:22 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1453011

registered interest
date	21/03/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government has taken to respond to the recommendations that it accepted made by the Second Report of the Defence Committee, Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life, published 25 July 2021.
tabling member constituency	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
tabling member printed	Jamie Stone
uin	143769
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2022 answer text <p>Defence is grateful to all the women who contributed to the Defence Committee's Report; we have listened carefully and are implementing bold changes in response. The Secretary of State for Defence personally tested the Ministry of Defence's response with the Defence Service Women's Networks to ensure the important issues highlighted by the Report were comprehensively addressed and that no opportunity was missed to bring about meaningful and enduring change.</p><p>The Chiefs of Staff are fully committed to making the Armed Forces inclusive and respectful working environments. This is essential for operational effectiveness. They are personally leading programmes to root out remaining unacceptable behaviour in their organisations.</p><p>As a direct result of this inquiry, Defence has committed to:</p><ul><li><p>A six-month sprint to accelerate new Women's Health policies</p></li><li><p>A six-month sprint to improve Servicewomen's uniform and equipment</p></li><li><p>Strengthen rules on sexual offences and exploitation</p></li><li><p>A more independent Service Complaints process</p></li><li><p>Career penalties for &quot;cover ups&quot;</p></li><li><p>A new Defence Serious Crime Unit and improved victim care and support</p></li><li><p>Learn from international Defence organisations</p></li><li><p>Action to help women achieve promotions</p></li><li><p>Regular dialogue with Service Women and Gender Networks</p></li><li><p>Improve Servicewomen's training experience</p><p>We remain committed to implementing the combined recommendations of the Defence Committee inquiry, the Wigston Review and the Gray Review in full. Cultural change takes time and we accept this will be an enduring programme of work to which senior leaders across Defence are committed.</p></li></ul> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 28/03/2022 11:44:25 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty
tabling member	4612 label Biography information for Jamie Stone

1436687

registered interest
date	28/02/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Government's response to the Defence Committee's Second Report on Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life, published in December 2021, what progress he has made on scoping hosting an international conference in 2022 with partner nations.
tabling member constituency	Wrexham
tabling member printed	Sarah Atherton
uin	131353
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2022 answer text <p>We are grateful to all the women who contributed to the Defence Committee's report and continue to implement the bold changes necessary in this area. As stated in our response, Defence is committed to understanding best practice within other Armed Forces and Government Departments. As part of this, we are well advanced in our planning to host an international conference this year with partner nations and learn with our allies who share similar challenges. Further details on the conference will be published in due course.</p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 08/03/2022 10:35:43 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty
tabling member	4855 label Biography information for Sarah Atherton

1363500

registered interest
date	26/10/2021
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what initiatives he has introduced to support the recruitment and retention of women in the armed forces.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
tabling member printed	Stuart Anderson
uin	63879
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence aims to significantly improve the recruitment and retention of women in the Armed Force; our ambition is to achieve 30% inflow of women by 2030. To realise this goal, the single Services have taken a range of steps to improve the experience of women in the Armed Forces, as we continue to do for all serving personnel. This includes all roles being open to women, targeted programmes to increase the recruitment of women, introducing flexible service, flexible and parental leave, the provision of sanitary boxes, and reviewing women specific combat requirements. We are committed to building on these improvements to give women greater confidence that a career in the Armed Forces is a fantastic opportunity and will not be limited by outdated or regressive policy.</p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 03/11/2021 16:32:52 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty
tabling member	4742 label Biography information for Stuart Anderson

1343390

registered interest
date	05/07/2021
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department is taking to support women in the armed forces.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South West
tabling member printed	Joanna Cherry
uin	902191
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2021 answer text <p>It is important we improve the experience of women in the Armed Forces which is why we are investing in policies such as flexible service, wrap-around childcare and better working practices. It is also important that we provide support in cases of unacceptable behaviour. That is why the Wigston Report and reforms to the Service Justice and Service Complaints Systems will change Defence’s culture and make it easier to tackle unacceptable behaviours.</p> answering member constituency Wyre and Preston North answering member printed Mr Ben Wallace question first answered 05/07/2021 16:17:56 answering member 1539 label Biography information for Mr Ben Wallace
tabling member	4419 label Biography information for Joanna Cherry