Armed Forces Bill — New Clause 17 — Special Health, Housing and Education Provisions for Service Personnel — 14 Jun 2011 at 21:27

The majority of MPs voted against requiring public bodies and minsters to consider the effects of people's service in the armed forces when setting healthcare, education and housing policy and to consider if special provisions for current, and former, service personnel are justified.

MPs were considering the Armed Forces Bill^[1]. The proposed new clause rejected in this vote was:

• ‘(1) In preparing policy, public bodies and Ministers must have regard to those matters to which the Secretary of State is to have regard in preparing an armed forces covenant report, under subsection (2A) of section 359A of AFA 2006.
• (2) In preparing policy, public bodies and Ministers must consider whether the making of special provision for service people or particular descriptions of service people would be justified.’.

Subsection (2)(a) of section 359A of AFA 2006 refers to effects of membership, or former membership, of the armed forces on service people in relation to the fields of healthcare, education and housing.

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Armed Forces Bill (now an Act)

Debate in Parliament | Source |