Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the service provided to armed forces personnel by the chaplaincy is prioritised according to the religion or belief of the individual seeking pastoral support.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Information regarding how many users of the chaplaincy identified as non-religious is not held. Data regarding any protected characteristics of individuals seeking confidential pastoral support is not normally recorded, nor will they necessarily even arise or be disclosed unless they have a direct bearing upon the issues at hand.
Where dissatisfaction or a neutral stance is expressed in the Armed Forces Continuous Attitudes Survey (AFCAS), the specific reasoning behind each survey response is not recorded. AFCAS does not go into that level of detail, however, local evaluations in-Unit routinely show high levels of satisfaction with the teaching and pastoral care that chaplaincy provides.
Neutral responses with the AFCAS survey are often in effect a “not applicable (N/A)” response. In this case the respondents are not likely to have sought direct support from the chaplaincy in the time frame of the AFCAS survey. As they are unlikely to have accessed or used the service provided, there are no specific measures targeting improvement for this cohort of respondents.
Information regarding a breakdown of resources comparing the chaplaincy to the various staff networks that provide support to Service personnel is not held in the format requested.
The question of the religion, belief, or any other protected characteristics of an individual in contact with chaplaincy has absolutely no bearing on priority of access for pastoral support. Pastoral support is delivered according to need and open to all.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 13 July (HL1351), what proportion of those using chaplaincy provided by their service identified as non-religious; what reasons were given for dissatisfaction with or a neutral stance towards the service received; what steps have been taken to improve the service in response to the 30-40 per cent of respondents who declared themselves either neutral towards or dissatisfied with the service they had received; and what resources, including funded posts comparable to religious chaplaincy, are provided to the various staff networks, including the Humanist And Non-religious in Defence Network, to provide support to those Service personnel who do not wish to talk to a Chaplain.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Information regarding how many users of the chaplaincy identified as non-religious is not held. Data regarding any protected characteristics of individuals seeking confidential pastoral support is not normally recorded, nor will they necessarily even arise or be disclosed unless they have a direct bearing upon the issues at hand.
Where dissatisfaction or a neutral stance is expressed in the Armed Forces Continuous Attitudes Survey (AFCAS), the specific reasoning behind each survey response is not recorded. AFCAS does not go into that level of detail, however, local evaluations in-Unit routinely show high levels of satisfaction with the teaching and pastoral care that chaplaincy provides.
Neutral responses with the AFCAS survey are often in effect a “not applicable (N/A)” response. In this case the respondents are not likely to have sought direct support from the chaplaincy in the time frame of the AFCAS survey. As they are unlikely to have accessed or used the service provided, there are no specific measures targeting improvement for this cohort of respondents.
Information regarding a breakdown of resources comparing the chaplaincy to the various staff networks that provide support to Service personnel is not held in the format requested.
The question of the religion, belief, or any other protected characteristics of an individual in contact with chaplaincy has absolutely no bearing on priority of access for pastoral support. Pastoral support is delivered according to need and open to all.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which professional qualifications relating to non-religious world views such as humanism are undertaken by the Armed Forces Chaplaincy; and which body accredits any such qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
All military Chaplains are accredited by Defence-endorsed sending churches or faith authorities which have committed their Chaplains to appreciate and understand the world views of all personnel irrespective of faith background. The vast majority of Chaplains are, additionally, university graduates whose professional studies will have included study of world views from a variety of spectrums, including humanism. Exact content will vary by institution, and is accredited by the relevant university, or institution.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, (1) how levels of satisfaction with the armed forces’ pastoral support services are measured, (2) whether they will publish the results, and (3) whether armed forces personnel are asked if they wish to receive non-religious pastoral care.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Military Chaplains are professionally qualified to provide pastoral care to everyone, regardless of philosophy or faith background. Service personnel who do not wish to talk to a Chaplain are encouraged to seek support from a variety of alternative sources, which can be facilitated by the Chaplain. This includes their Chain of Command, through the Services' professional social workers, medical staff and welfare staff. Mutual support is also available via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.
The publicly available annual Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey shows that, of those who have used chaplaincy support provided by their Service, satisfaction with the service has ranged between 61% and 65%. Dissatisfaction levels have been consistently low, recorded at either 4% or 5%, with the remaining 30% to 35% of respondents having a neutral stance on the service.