The latest from the Select Committee on the Armed Forces bill

This week, the Select Committee on the Armed Forces bill held it's final evidence session, before the committee begins line-by-line scrutiny of the bill.

Wednesday 24th March
The session first focused on veterans’ healthcare and included questions on mental health provisions. The Committee then focused on the provisions within the Armed Forces Bill and looked at potential inequities in the enforcement of the duty of due regard and the continued jurisdiction of the Court Martial in serious offences.

This session gave the committee a chance to hear from Government ministers. We heard from Nadine Dorries MP, Minister of State for Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Patient Safety and Johnny Mercer MP, Minister for Defence People and Veterans. We also heard from senior civil servants in the Ministry of Defence.

In the part of the session that focussed on healthcare, one of the talking points was the Veteran's Trauma Network. I asked one of the healthcare professionals if the Armed Forces Bill could be used to further support the network's objectives. This is what she said:

"Yes. The veterans trauma network was established for the veterans who have the most significant health needs. Prior to having that, we recognised that veterans weren’t perhaps having the services wrapped around them, and they were having to visit various different elements. Yes, I think it would be great to have the veterans trauma network wrapped within this. We are in our first year of delivering this in Wales, so we are still learning—as I said, it has been an abnormal year—but it is great that the veterans can have more services locally. I think that is really important."

In the second part of the session, we heard from senior civil servants in the Ministry of Defence. The main topic covered here was statutory guidance. As a Committee, we have written to the Minister for clarity on what the statutory guidance will include, but we have still not received a reply. We were told at the session that the statutory guidance is currently in draft, and won't be published until the bill reaches royal assent. I asked about this below.

In the final part of the session, we heard from Johnny Mercer MP, minister for defence people and veterans. This was an opportunity to discuss the reasoning behind some of the clauses in the bill draw attention to some of the comments made in the evidence sessions.

In a previous session, we had heard from representatives from outside the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence, who supported the idea that some of the most serious offences, like rape, in the armed forces could be tried in civilian courts, rather than the military justice system. However, the bill maintains the jurisdiction of the court martial for serious cases committed in the UK. I asked the Minister why:
​

In Thursday's session we went through the bill line-by-line. 

There are parts of the bill that I, and Labour, support, but there are also some gaps:

• We want to place the same legal responsibility to have 'due regard' to the Armed Forces Covenant on central Government and the devolved administrations, as the current drafting of the bill puts on local authorities and other public bodies. It should be equal across the board.
• We also want to widen the scope of the bill to address all matters of potential disadvantage for service personnel. These areas are employment, pensions, compensation, social care, criminal justice and immigration.
• We want to expand the powers of the Service Complaints Ombudsman, to include matters relating to the Armed Forces Covenant. If a person whom the covenant applies to finds themselves wronged in a matter relating to the covenant, they should be able to make a complaint.
• In a point that I raised with the Minister for Service people and veterans, we want to ensure that serious crimes like rape are tried in civilian courts, as was recommended in the Lyons review.
• We have a new clause, requiring the Government to produce a definition of 'priority care' and conduct a review of mental health waiting time targets for service personnel and veterans
• Labour want the Government to be required to report annually on the standard of service accommodation and publish a report on what constitutes minimum standards for Armed Forces accommodation.
• The many commonwealth veterans who have served our country should only pay the unit cost of an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain if they apply for UK citizenship
• Finally, the Government should be required to conduct a comprehensive review of the number of people who were dismissed or forced to resign from the Armed Forces due to their sexuality, and to make recommendations on appropriate forms of compensation. 

Next week, there will be formal consideration, before the drafting of the Special Report starts.

Information and Support
You can find out more about Wednesday's session, and watch it in full here
The Armed Forces Bill is available to read here
​The Royal British Legion
SSAFA
Help for Heroes
Veterans Wales (Swansea Bay University Health Board contacts)
​Forward Assist
Swansea Council's Councillor Champion for the Armed Forces - Cllr.Wendy.Lewis@swansea.gov.uk