Army members allowed to give evidence to living standards inquiry

Members of the armed forces will be permitted to give evidence to MPs about the standard of their living quarters in a partial government climbdown.

Service personnel were banned from speaking to a Commons committee investigating forces housing.

But Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has now said they can submit written evidence, "in a personal capacity".

It comes after the Tory chair of the committee, Robert Coutts, complained to Mr Shapps about the ban.

The MP told Mr Shapps it was "fundamentally wrong" to prevent serving members of the armed forces from contributing to the inquiry.

"Serving personnel know the most about what it's like to live in that accommodation and have been and will continue to be affected by MOD policy," he added.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said the decision to exclude serving personnel had been taken by Mr Shapps' predecessor Ben Wallace.

Mr Shapps - who took over as defence secretary from Mr Wallace in August - has written to the committee to say he thought it was "vitally important" that the inquiry "gets to benefit from the views and experience of the people who live in military accommodation".

He said he would give members of the armed forces dispensation to give written evidence on the understanding that they do so in personal capacity; they do not comment on matters of policy; they are careful not to reveal private information about other people.

The Commons defence sub-committee is investigating how the MoD plans to improve services, as well as modernise and invest in single living and service families' accommodation.

In September, the MOD announced a new accommodation offer to Armed Forces personnel which will be available from March 2024.

It follows a BBC investigation revealing that military personnel and their families are living in damp, mould-infested housing without heating.

The Ministry of Defence has previously said it was unacceptable that some military families were not receiving the level of service they deserved.

The MOD rules are that all contact with the media or communication in public by members of the armed forces and MOD civilians in relation to defence or government business must be authorised in advance.

The MOD has said that unauthorised disclosure or leaking of information may cause damage to the Department and the armed forces.