§ 1. Mr. SpellerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the standards of catering in the armed forces; and how many complaints he has received on this subject.
§ The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Archie Hamilton)Standards of catering in the armed forces are kept under regular review. I have received no formal complaints on this subject, although I have had the opportunity to discuss catering and other matters relating to the pay and conditions of service personnel during the many visits that I have made to armed forces units in the United Kingdom and overseas.
§ Mr. SpellerMay I inform my hon. Friend that it is most unlikely that he will receive any complaints? Is he aware that the standard of catering in the armed forces is now probably at its highest ever level and that it is certainly the equivalent of or better than that of our friends in NATO? I speak as an ex-catering officer who has lived entirely on that food.
§ Mr. HamiltonThe armed forces have benefited very much from the services of private catering contractors. I know of my hon. Friend's interest in this. The few complaints that we have received relate to instances where private firms have not met the manpower or the standards that were expected of them when the contracts were originally signed.
§ Mr. Tony BanksIs the Minister aware that my uncle was in the catering corps? If people did not eat the salad, he had a habit of frying it, which produced a most peculiar dish to eat. Can the Minister give an undertaking that our troops no longer have to eat fried salad?
§ Mr. HamiltonI can only say that I have never been offered fried salad at any of the establishments that I have visited.