CONFIDENTIAL
2ND DRAFT
Family Welfare
24. The report of the Naval Welfare Committee, under Lord Seebohm,
was published in February 1974. Its key recommendation, to build up
a professionally-staffed social service to encompass all aspects of
welfare for Naval personnel and their families, has been accepted
and the professional head of the organisation was appointed in
November 1974. Many of the Committee's other recommendations are
being implemented; others are still under consideration.
25.
The setting up of an Army Welfare Inquiry Committee was
announced in the House in the Defence Debate on 13 May 1974. The
Committee, under the Chairmanship of Professor J C Spencer, is well
advanced with its task of reviewing welfare provision for Army
personnel and their families in the United Kingdom, and hopes to
report late in 1975.
26. In the meantime, Unit Families Officers with a special
responsibility for family welfare (and formerly confined to infantry
battalions) are to be introduced in all major and minor Field
7
Force Units. The Housing Commandant Organisation, which has proved
so successful in the United Kingdom, has been extended to the
British Army of the Rhine.
Cyprus
27. Special arrangements were made to assist with the many
administrative and domestic problems arising out of the evacuation
of families from Cyprus.
Improvements of Conditions for Troops in Northern Ireland
28. A great deal of effort is being devoted to improving the
emergency accommodation and general amenities for troops in Northern
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CONFIDENTIAL