Armed Forces (Service Complaints Commissioner) Regulations 2007

I thank the Minister for introducing these two regulations which are, of course, interdependent. In doing so she amplified somewhat, and clarified a little, the recent Written Statement on the subject and the Explanatory Memorandum as published with the draft regulations. I wish to make it clear straight away that although we on this side of the Committee do not intend to object to these regulations, we are seriously unhappy with the consequences which seem bound to arise from them. Notwithstanding the assertion at paragraph 7.7 of the Explanatory Memorandum that "““The regulations, their applications and effects have been developed in full consultation with the armed forces””," we have very good reason to believe that there are profound concerns at very senior levels about the outcome of that consultation. Parliament and the Minister should be aware that all is not quite as the words used would suggest. While we accept that the Government have an obligation to give effect, in a suitable way, to the recommendations of Nicholas Blake QC—who is now, I believe, a judge—in his Deepcut inquiry, we have continuing doubts, which we foreshadowed when we debated these clauses of the primary legislation, whether the insertion of these arrangements into the chain of command is an entirely suitable way to render military law, justice and administration more user-friendly. Our fear is that this arrangement may turn out to be no more than a trouble-maker’s charter. We shall therefore want to watch very carefully how the arrangements, which the orders established, work in practice. Our present view is that at a future date, and in the light of experience, we will want to advocate substantial changes in the arrangements. In particular, I thank the noble Baroness for confirming that the commissioner-designate is Dr Susan Atkins and for telling us something of the qualifications that the Government believe she has for the job. She lacks, of course, the one qualification which Nicholas Blake said was essential; namely, practical knowledge and experience of the military world into which she will have power to intervene. That was made very clear in an Answer to my honourable friend the Member for Aldershot at col. 485W in yesterday’s Commons Hansard. The Minister admitted that Dr Atkins does not have any direct knowledge or experience of the Armed Forces. In the light of that Answer, will the Minister clarify what comprehensive induction and orientation Dr Atkins will receive before January next year? What procedure was followed in making this appointment, particularly given that she is the interim chief executive of the Appointments Commission? What are the terms and conditions of the appointment? Is it full-time or part-time, and what is its duration? What is her salary, and what are the budgeted costs of her office for this purpose? We have a number of further specific questions, some of which relate directly to how Parliament, and this House in particular, will monitor the workings of the commissioner. What do the Government foresee will be the likely scale of cases brought to the commissioner? How is it anticipated that she will categorise these cases? At what intervals will she report? The Minister mentioned an annual report. Although an annual report published long after the event, as proposed, is a necessary record, we feel that that is not adequate and satisfactory for the purposes of parliamentary oversight. How promptly will these reports be disclosed to Parliament? Will a dedicated website be established and kept up to date so that Parliament, members of the Armed Forces and the interested public are able to form a continuing picture of how this is going? If the whole thing is to work well and in a satisfactory manner, there needs to be a publicly accessible description of the scheme, expressed in simple and comprehensible language, rather than in the tortured complex of language, references and exclusions in which, it would seem, statutory instruments have to be drafted. There should be such a website and it should display the progress of the commissioner’s work in a suitably summarised form. It should explain the procedures and should include, for reference, the relevant sections of the Act—Sections 334 to 339—and the terms of these orders. It should also include, for information and reference, the terms of the set of Defence Council regulations which, we are told in paragraph 2.1 of the Explanatory Memorandum, form part of the arrangements but which do not come before Parliament for approval. I make these suggestions to underline the fact that although our serious concerns about the whole arrangement remain, our strong belief is that if the Armed Forces are to have this imposed on them, the arrangements should be as helpful as possible to members of the Armed Forces, their families and professional advisers, as well as to Members of both Houses of Parliament.