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9 Dec 2009 : Column 140WH—continued
5.17 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Kevan Jones): I congratulate the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) on securing this debate. The British Forces Post Office provides official and private mail services for Her Majesty's forces and their dependants worldwide and within the establishment in the UK. I am aware that mail is a major contributor to morale, as she suggests, and ensuring that mail gets to our servicemen and women is a key priority.
I will start by distinguishing between the operational theatre, which is what the hon. Lady was referring to, and overseas permanent bases. Operational theatres are supported by our Enduring Free mail service. I would like to put it on record that, contrary to what appears on some websites, the changes that we are making to the BFPO will not affect the Enduring Free mail service to our troops on operations. There will be no change to that service at all. It is a top priority for the Ministry of Defence to ensure that our servicemen and women in Afghanistan get the mail and support that they need from their families. We recognise how important it is for them to get messages from home.
We have made great strides, as the hon. Lady suggests. One of the most popular ways to communicate now is the e-bluey, which is used increasingly to send not just letters but photographs and, as I saw a few weeks ago in Afghanistan, items such as a five-year-old's paintings from school. It is a big morale booster for soldiers to receive personalised mail, and service usage has gone from 30,000 items a month less than three years ago to well over 100,000.
On the changes we are making, I do not recognise the description of the slash and burn of our overseas post offices, although I recognise that the Liberal Democrats are prone to using emotive language. We are changing 10 locations in Europe and one in the US NATO headquarters: at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Brussels, Brunssum, Ramstein, Stavanger, Karup, Rome, Milan, Lisbon and Valencia; and Norfolk, Virginia in the United States. Clearly, those are not operational locations, but are in first-world countries that have sophisticated and modern postal services.
As a result of the proposed changes, a limited postal receipt and dispatch facility will be maintained, but the over-the-counter postal service will end. There will no longer be a facility to send parcels back to the UK, but it will be possible for people to receive them. That will save about £1.3 million a year. As the hon. Lady knows, we are trying to free up as much money as possible for the front line. I think that we can introduce this efficiency without adversely affecting the service. We have consulted the three armed forces federations and I put on record my thanks to them for their input into the review. Although the over-the-counter services will cease, people at the sites will retain their BFPO numbers, which is important in banking, applying for credit, internet shopping and voter registration.
For services outside BFPO provision, the international mail system that is used by business and the public to send letters in Europe and the US will be available. The
hon. Lady mentioned the increased cost of sending mail using the international postal service, but the overseas allowance will change to cover that increase. I do not see the changes as draconian, but as maintaining the service in an efficient way.
On operational post, the Enduring Free mail service has been popular and it is important for morale to ensure that servicemen and women receive regular packages of mail from home. I was in Afghanistan two weeks ago and know the importance that our servicemen and women-especially those at forward operating bases-place on receiving mail from home.
Like the hon. Lady, I do not want to discourage the generosity of the British public in supporting our servicemen and women. However, there is a problem of unsolicited mail. I was in the post office in Kandahar two weeks ago. The lady who ran it said that up to 30 per cent. of the packages received were unsolicited mail. Her concern was that at Christmas, when it is important that mail from home gets to people's loved ones, the unsolicited mail was clogging up the system. Some of the items that people send are a little inappropriate, to say the least. For example, our search dogs do not need dog food and the soldiers do not need cat food for local cats in the villages in which they are stationed. I accept that people send such things out of the best of intentions.
If people wish to support our servicemen and women, we ask them to support SSAFA Forces Help and the operational welfare fund. The operational welfare fund does not work exactly as the hon. Lady described, but it does provide electronic kit for people in theatre. For example, laptop projectors were recently provided at one of the FOBs, so that people could watch films. Therefore, there are examples of the cash that is given being turned into direct help and providing benefits that people welcome.
Sandra Gidley:
I was suggesting an extension of that scheme, which is the right method. A link should be created between the giver and the recipient so that one
can acknowledge the other. That would help to humanise the process. The fundamental point is that the Ministry of Defence produced this advice, but it is difficult to access. Not everybody would have heard the news on the particular day that it was announced. A lot of people are still not aware of the message that there are more appropriate ways of giving.
Mr. Jones: I accept the hon. Lady's good intentions, but if the system is overcomplicated, it will be difficult to get the information out. I think that getting the money in and deciding on a case-by-case basis what people require, through talking to local commanders, is a better way of doing it. If people want to make donations, they can do so by visiting www.bmycharity.com. I urge everyone who wants to support our troops to give money rather than send parcels.
The hon. Lady referred to servicemen and women who might not have family sending parcels to them. We support-and encourage others to support-Support Our Soldiers and Thank The Forces. Last week, I launched this year's uk4u Thanks! Christmas boxes, which contain some of the practical equipment that she mentioned. That is manageable and should be supported. There are ways to give. I use this debate to get the message out again not to send unsolicited mail to our servicemen and women. If people can give, please will they give generously to the charities that support our servicemen and women?
The changes are practical and will ensure that we have a cost-effective system of providing for and supporting our servicemen and women, whether they are on operations or in non-operational bases across the world. I urge people to look in detail at what we are doing, rather than just reading the headlines that have been written on certain websites in the last few months.
5.27 pm
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