Bob Russell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers based at Merville Barracks, Colchester Garrison, by battalion or other unit were issued with notice of compulsory redundancy in (a) September, (b) October, (c) November and (d) December 2011; how many were issued with notices during January 2012; and how many he expects to be issued with notices between February and July 2012 inclusive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what financial support his Department is providing to local authorities of garrison towns to ensure that there is sufficient quality housing available to soldiers made redundant as a result of implementation of the Strategic Defence Security Review; what steps he is taking to mitigate the potential effects for those on social housing waiting lists; and if he will make a statement.

Successive Labour and Conservative Governments from 1945 to 1980 built a massive supply of family council houses, but for the next 30 years, they did not. It is a question of supply and demand. Does the right hon. Lady agree that we need more affordable rented houses?

Does the right hon. Lady agree that successive Labour and Conservative Governments-[ Interruption. ]

What would the administrative costs be of levying the £20 fee and processing it?

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if he will request IPSA to make it its policy that letters from the Authority to hon. and right hon. Members are signed and that the name of the person signing the letter is printed with their job title.

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if he will request IPSA to provide a secure (a) postal address and (b) e-mail address within IPSA, with a named individual for hon. and right hon. Members to submit confidential staff information.

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the average cost to IPSA was of processing a request made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in the latest period for which figures are available.

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the average cost to the public purse was of processing a complaint made to IPSA's compliance officer against hon. Members in the latest period for which figures are available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many First Tier Tax Tribunal cases have been brought against HM Revenue and Customs in respect of penalty charges for late receipt of P35 returns; in how many of these tribunals the appellant was successful; and what cost was incurred to the public purse in legal and administrative costs for these tribunals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage those primary care trusts who have suspended IVF funding to review their decision; and if he will make a statement.

I thank the Minister for that reply and I congratulate the coalition Government on taking action after 13 years of failure. While I welcome the empty homes premium and the empty homes fund-and bearing in mind that the borough of Colchester has 2,024 empty houses, 591 of which have been empty for more than six months-may I urge him to bring more pressure to bear on local authorities, especially as 2,000 dwellings is roughly the size of a sprawling estate, land for which is short and which would be a planning and environmental disaster if it went ahead?

What plans he has to return empty homes to use.

As the newest member of the Defence Committee, I congratulate the Chairman, my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Hampshire (Mr Arbuthnot), on setting the scene for this excellent debate. I also endorse the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire (Mr Gray).

In opposition, both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats criticised the Government because our armed forces were under strength and overstretched. I regret to say that the coalition Government are making a bad situation even worse. The morale of Her Majesty's armed forces is not as good as it should be and among the reasons for that low morale are poor conditions.

I commend the previous Government, for example, for what they did with the new Merville barracks in the Colchester constituency, but I condemn them for their failure to upgrade the family accommodation sufficiently in 13 years. Even today, one can see it with single soldier's accommodation. When the Defence Committee went to Catterick, we were shown level 4-perhaps it is called category 4-accommodation, which reminded me very much of what we used to see in "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" when the work force decided to decorate the place. The Army in Catterick got in paint and paint brushes and allowed the soldiers to determine their colour scheme in the various bits of the barrack block. The colour variations included interesting combinations and the quality of the workmanship was variable. I do not think that that is the right way to treat our brave soldiers, nor is it right that soldiers' families should continue to live in accommodation that is not what we would expect in civilian life.

We know that the size of the Army will go down and we have been told today that the numbers will be the lowest since the Crimea. The statistic I had was that they were the lowest since the Boer war, Baden-Powell and Mafeking. Whatever that number is, it is too small for us to have a role on the world stage. We have commitments. The Falkland Islands have been mentioned and I should like to endorse those who have pointed out that it is fortress Falklands now and that things are completely different from 30 years ago. I do not think we should get over-anxious. We obviously need to be alert, but we should not think that the Falklands in 2012 are as they were in 1982.

I pay tribute, as others have, to the Territorials and reservists. Without them, we could not do what we do. Without the 10% of the British Army that is not British, it could not do what it does. We should pay tribute, in particular, to those people from the Commonwealth nations who serve in Her Majesty's three armed forces.

Let us also praise those who provide leadership for the air, sea and army cadets. I am delighted to say that we have all three units in the garrison town of Colchester.

I want to conclude, as others wish to speak, on the subject of the future of the Ministry of Defence police. There are some 3,600 MDP officers and their headquarters are in Essex, in Wethersfield. Despite their highly trained and specialised nature, the role of Ministry of Defence police is often not well understood by decision makers and the wider general public. Indeed, under the previous Government, I went to the MOD to make a special plea on behalf of the Ministry of Defence police in the garrison town of Colchester and I could not get people to understand the important role they played. As a result, the number of MDPs in my constituency has gone from 30 to three. With the best will in the world, the Essex constabulary cannot plug the gap left by the loss of 27 Ministry of Defence police officers. The MDP is facing major cuts to its budget and numbers as part of the strategic defence and security review, with a potentially disastrous impact on national security. The Ministry of Defence must reconsider and I hope that the Defence Committee will help the Ministry of Defence realise that cutting the MOD police is not the brightest of the ideas that it is considering.

Will the Secretary of State accept that morale is very important, and if our soldiers, sailors and air personnel and their families are given accommodation that is not fit for purpose, that does nothing to help the Government's objectives?

Will the Secretary of State give way?

May we have a debate on the charitable not-for-profit sector to deal with what has been described to me as the "Tescofication" of the sector, which is contrary to the big society and localism? For example, Ormiston children and families trust, which operates across the east of England, is about to lose seven of its Sure Start centres in my constituency because Barnardo's has come in and hoovered it up.

We heard it all last week.

The Royal Bank of Scotland was bailed out with billions of pounds of public money, saving thousands of RBS jobs, presumably including those of the people who currently run it. However, RBS is pushing Peacocks department stores, which account for 700 shops and 10,000 jobs, towards administration. Is it not the role of the Government to intervene, when they own the bank, and can we have a debate on that?

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. In the past two hours, Members of Parliament have been denied access to an internet site, www.ipsa.shadow.com, which is supportive of Members of Parliament. The official print-off states, "Access is denied to the website you have selected because it belongs to a category that is blocked." Can we have an investigation into who within the House is blocking Members of Parliament accessing anything, and in particular something to do with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, especially when it is favourable to Members of Parliament?