Today’s news blog looks at the future of Defence Business Services and internet access on merchant ships.
DEFENCE BUSINESS SERVICES
An article in the Financial Times criticises what they describe as ‘a Ministry of Defence plan to outsource management of the burial of war casualties and notification of families’. The article suggests such a move would fall within the scope of a potential future contract to run Defence Business Services (DBS).
The piece does not include any of a statement that was provided to the newspaper and is misleading. There are absolutely no plans to change the way in which families or next-of-kin are notified of injuries or deaths. It is long-established practice that the Armed Forces provide the point of contact for all families and next-of-kin, both in terms of so-called ‘kinforming’ and all support afterwards. While no final decisions have been made about the future of DBS, liaison with families at such difficult times has always been undertaken by the single services and would not be affected any future contract.
Our statement on this issue is below.
We are not changing how we notify and support families during bereavement, repatriation and burial. This has always been led by the Armed Forces as the first point of contact, supported by civil servants, and changing this is not within the scope of this, or any future, contract.
For those DBS services which may be in scope, no final decisions have been made; the detail of any potential future contract is speculation.
INTERNET ACCESS ON SHIPS
Although it makes no reference to the Royal Navy, an article in The Daily Telegraph reports that that Britain faces a shortfall of sailors on merchant ships as a result of young people’s reluctance to do without social media while at sea.
For Royal Navy sailors deployed on operations overseas connection to family and friends is recognised as beneficial to wellbeing and is realised via a variety of methods including wi-fi provision.
A Royal Navy spokesperson said:
The Royal Navy is fully committed to providing warships and their crews with the latest in commercial communications to complement existing leading-edge military systems. Successful trials have already been conducted on two classes of ship such that similar equipment can now be rolled out across the remainder of the fleet.
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