My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 28. I do so in place of the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, who would otherwise be here, but is indisposed. I thank her for having introduced this amendment and another one so ably in Committee.
In Committee, this was grouped with another one that came before it which talked about trying to achieve a total cessation of the recruitment of under-18s by the United Kingdom, a practice that we are singular among all the members of NATO in pursuing. In the event, because the two were grouped together, the
former amendment took about 98% of the airtime of the debate and there was very little discussion of this one, which is in part why we have decided to bring it back here for debate today. I emphasise that this is for debate; I do not intend to divide the House.
I will try, together perhaps with some other noble Lords who have put their name to this amendment, to put a case for the Government to look very carefully at their current practice of asking junior entry soldiers to serve two years more than entrants at age 18. This is to see whether this is the right thing to do in the first place and, more profoundly, whether the entire approach to junior entry is fit for purpose.
In Committee, the Minister made it very clear that, up until their 18th birthday, junior entrants have a statutory right to ask for discharge. However, after 18, they are in for four years and, under the current system, no allowance is made for the first two years at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate. A judicial review in 2015 concluded that this is unequal treatment in law, but is not unlawful, since the Equality Act 2010 exempts the Armed Forces from its prohibition on age discrimination.
In 2015, the Army carried out a review and estimated that, if it equalised the minimum service period for all recruits, it would have to recruit and train approximately 40 additional personnel each year to compensate for the relatively small number of junior entrants who might choose to leave after four years. To put that into context in 2015 terms, 40 personnel would be 0.5% of the Army’s enlisted intake for that year, which totalled 8,020 individuals. While the Navy and Air Force both take on a small number of junior entrants, neither service chooses to discriminate in the same way as the Army.
The 2019 junior entry review, undertaken following a recommendation from the Defence Committee in another place, suggested an amendment to the terms of service to a Type S engagement, whereby 18 year-olds can either opt to leave or convert their engagement to a short career versatile engagement, which would recognise the first two years of service and count towards the four years’ minimum length return of service.
The review recommended that this approach be considered, saying that it
“could be deemed a positive change”
and was
“unlikely to be contentious”
to either a junior entry cohort or their “gatekeepers”—I assume that means the staff at Harrogate, although I am not sure how they would feel about that term. The review continued that
“any move to implement”
the new terms of service on leaving the Army as an under-18 year-old
“would make the process … more transparent, which would bring an increase in the confidence of recruits and their gatekeepers.”
Its only caveat was whether this would enable the Army to achieve its desired manning balance along with other assessments of length of service.
In light of the announcement this year that the Army will be further downsized by 10,000 troops, does the Minister agree that this would be an opportune moment to institute the proposed new terms of service
and put the matter to rest? Will she tell the House what the Government’s current thinking is? Can she inform us on any actions or, if not, tell us how she might consider progressing this? Will she undertake to come back to the House and report on any progress and timings?
There are two further issues I want to explore to test the MoD and Army’s thinking on the current junior entry structure and content. First, in 2021, is it recruiting the right people for today’s and tomorrow’s Army? This Government and our current, rather busy, Home Secretary frequently refer to an immigration policy that should be focused on attracting and admitting “the brightest and the best”. At the same time, the Army is increasingly conscious that it needs to recruit more young people who are interested and competent in STEM studies and in furthering their education, particularly the sort of technical education that the Army of tomorrow will need to manage challenges such as cyber warfare and the use of artificial intelligence.
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The 2019 junior entry review highlights the heavy reliance—70% of the intake—on a segment of young people which is named Get-On Community Pride, not a particularly attractive brand. This cohort is described as unambitious, tends to live in poorer areas and is likely to be actively demotivated by the prospect of further education, which “would potentially jeopardise inflow”. The review further states that
“introducing more education/STEM into the JE scheme could potentially damage levels of attraction among the existing”
core main target audience. Simply stated, the dilemma is that the Army is on the record as stating that it needs to recruit more females, more BAME individuals and more STEM-literate entrants and those interested in education, but is hamstrung by the fear—increasingly irrelevant and unhelpful, I think—of demotivating its current predominant recruiting pool.
I refer briefly to the recommendations made by the independent advisory panel, which works very closely with the college at Harrogate, and each year produces a report with some recommendations. These are the highlights of its recommendations. In its opinion,
“the relatively frequent change of Commanding Officers and other senior staff at”
Harrogate
“every two years, means that there is a loss of leadership momentum and organisational memory.”
Remember, this is an educational establishment. Imagine if in a school, every two years the leadership was recycled and completely new people came in, perhaps with little or no relevant experience. The report states:
“A longer period of command would be beneficial.”
Secondly, the panel sees “a strong benefit” in the leadership of the college itself having much “more input into the selection of key personnel”—that is, the people who will be recycled into replace them, because at the moment it appears that they have little or no say in whether those nominated to replace them are fit for purpose and will be good at that task. It also notes that
“the growing awareness of the emotional and mental health needs of a significant minority of young people”
at Harrogate creates growing pressures and that Harrogate must do more to make appropriate provision. Finally, it says:
“We have observed over the last year”—
this is 2018-19—
“a growing frustration at the number of JS who arrive at the College on reception days but who for either medical or other reasons leave very soon afterwards, sometimes within a matter of days.”
I was a headhunter for 30 years, and I would not describe that as a particularly effective or successful recruitment or screening policy. Does the Minister acknowledge this dilemma that is faced by the Army looking at its current junior entry strategy? Does she agree that the status quo is becoming increasingly untenable, and can she tell us what discussions and plans, if any, are evolving to deal with it?
Given the emerging research findings about the incidence of mental health issues and trauma experienced by some serving and retired Army personnel, mentioned in particular in Committee by the noble Lord, Lord Browne of Ladyton, is the Army certain that the support, training and guidance that the junior entry cohort currently receives is conducted using best practice and is not inadvertently causing some of them—who, in law, are children—harm?
The Minister asked for the relevant research to be forwarded to her by the noble Lord, Lord Browne. I suggest to her that these emerging findings, taken together with the findings and recommendations of the 2019 Wigston report on inappropriate behaviours in the UK Armed Forces, and some of the incidents and alleged incidents of bullying at the Army Foundation College, be looked at with great care and attention.
As I said earlier, I will not divide the House. I move this amendment in the spirit of wanting to work with the Government and with the Army in moving quickly to implement the new terms of service and to redefine and craft a junior entry policy that is fit for the 21st century and not the 19th century. I beg to move.