Alison Taylor

Thank you, Mrs Cummins, for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. As an MP who represents the west coast of Scotland—a large part of my seat is on the River Clyde—I felt it was important to contribute to this debate. In my constituency, there are quite a number of serving and retired servicemembers, and we have many families who settled in the constituency to work in the war effort during the second world war. It is a constituency with strong connections to the armed forces, and the veterans charity Erskine was founded there in the former Erskine veterans hospital. The measures in the Bill will be welcomed across Great Britain. I was fortunate enough to join local service personnel to learn about the armed forces covenant shortly after my election and I have been greatly encouraged to learn of local employers signing it and embracing it. It is well past time that the Government did the same. I know, too, that the provisions on service family housing will be broadly welcomed across the country. I look forward to seeing the benefits of concerted efforts to improve housing for families in my constituency. Housing in our communities is so important, not just in providing a place to sleep, but for access to the local community, schools, health services and so on. Our communities are open and generous, and they appreciate the sacrifices made by service personnel. I look forward to welcoming more retired and serving service personnel to Paisley and Renfrewshire North.