Armed Forces Bill

My Lords, noble Lords may be aware that the post of the Service Complaints Commissioner was established under the Armed Forces Act 2006 in December 2007 to provide independent oversight of the service complaints system, with one of the statutory functions of the role being to report each year to the Secretary of State on how fairly, effectively and efficiently the service complaints system is working. Three annual reports so far have detailed the work of the commissioner’s office. They have been thorough and critical in their assessment of all aspects of the complaints system. The commissioner has commented and reported in detail on specific areas where progress has been made or where further improvement is required. Indeed, where the commissioner has investigated and identified areas for improvement, recommendations as to remedy have been made in her reports. A total of 27 recommendations were made in her first two reports, and this year she has made a further 20 recommendations, as well as four three-year goals setting out her vision of how the complaints system should be operating by 2014. This is therefore a new system, one that is still developing but, we would suggest, making good progress in changing the culture of the complaints process within the armed services. The services have worked closely with the commissioner over the last three years to take practical steps to implement her recommendations and continually improve the way in which service complaints are handled. This is not to say that life is yet perfect. It is, however, to suggest that improvements are being made. The MoD and the services value the independent oversight that the SCC brings and acknowledge the improvements made to the complaints system as a result of her scrutiny. As I have said, the commissioner has produced three annual reports to date, which were laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State. Each of these reports was published in March and reported on performance in the preceding calendar year. On receipt of the commissioner’s reports, the MoD and the services review and fully consider the findings and recommendations made before a formal response is delivered to the commissioner and a copy placed in the Library of the House. It is our aim to respond to the reports in the July following publication in March and that was successfully achieved for the commissioner’s 2008 and 2010 reports. The response to the 2009 report was not delivered until September, although this was due to the unavailability of the commissioner at the time, and is unlikely to happen again. On the question of the commissioner publishing reports that contain recommendations in relation to individual cases, this would involve an important and, I must say, delicate and not entirely straightforward extension of the commissioner’s role. The commissioner recommended in her last annual report that her role should become that of an ombudsman. That recommendation includes the suggestion that the ombudsman should be able to report on individual cases to the Defence Council, with all necessary protections for individuals. The merits of the recommendation and any benefits it might offer for the complaints process are now being fully considered as part of a review. Since this review is currently under way, I hope that the noble Lord will feel able to accept my assurance that we are still very actively considering how well this new process is working, and that he will feel able to withdraw his amendment.