The Defence Committee
We are a Committee of fourteen Members of Parliament, appointed by the House of Commons and drawn from the three largest political parties. Our responsibility is to monitor and to hold to account the Ministry of Defence and its associated public bodies, including the armed forces, on behalf of the House of Commons and the people who elect it.
Although we come from different political parties, and often hold different views from one another, we always seek to agree to our Reports unanimously, on the basis of consensus.
Find out more about how the Defence Committee works.
For more information on the Defence Committee, visit www.parliament.uk/defcom.
Our inquiry: Educating Service Children
We are holding an inquiry into the education of children of Service personnel. The inquiry will focus on the provision of education in Service schools overseas and the performance of the Ministry of Defence’s Agency, Service Children’s Education, but it will also consider the issues facing children and young people when they return to education in the UK and the schooling, and assistance with schooling, which MoD provides in the UK.
We hope to obtain the views of those with direct experience of Service education: teachers, Service families and young people who are attending or have attended Service schools.
Find out more about our inquiry.
The purpose of this forum
The purpose of this online forum is to obtain the views of people with direct experience of Service children’s education – families, teachers, education managers, and, most importantly, young people themselves.
We hope that this will help us identify the most important issues and get ideas for solutions to any problems. We hope that you will tell us about the positive things, as well as about any problems.
MPs on the Committee will respond to the comments with the aim of producing a lively debate.
When the forum is closed, a summary report and transcripts of the comments will be presented to the Committee and this, together with the written and oral evidence received, will help shape the report we make to Parliament. The Government will have to respond to the recommendations we make.