Armed Forces Bill

Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Excerpts

Wednesday 6th July 2011 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich]

My Lords, I am pleased to participate from this Bench on Second Reading of an important Bill, not least because in my diocese, which covers the county of Suffolk, there are many military units and, in the three years I have been there, I have witnessed several homecoming parades and several church services in my cathedral. The most poignant aspect of these returns is seeing the injured. They are in their uniforms—probably for the last time—with a significant number of their colleagues with whom they have served. One also sees a number of young men, limbless—sometimes triple amputees—and one realises that they have a long life ahead of them, and that the responsibility and care that we owe them as a nation is indeed vital. The fact that so much of this debate has focused on Clause 2 is, I am sure, a reflection of all that.

That said, I am standing in for the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Wakefield, who has led this Bench in its dealings on the Bill to date. He regrets that he is unable to be in his place today owing to other long-standing public commitments in his diocese. Noble Lords may remember the Motion for debate that he tabled in January this year on the strategic defence and security review and the health of the military covenant. This debate reflected his long-standing concern that, while safeguarding the security of this country, we also provide for the welfare of those who serve—concerns, of course, shared by others on this Bench.

Indeed, many of the points debated today were explored further in the Church of England's submission to the Armed Forces Bill Committee inquiry, which reported last month. That submission offered a view of what is mean by “covenant”; it is, of course, a word that means a great deal to us. It drew on the insights on welfare matters provided by the Armed Forces’ chaplains, as well as the many church-based voluntary services that provide much needed pastoral and welfare support to current and former service personnel and their families. This submission, alongside that to the Ministry of Defence's consultation informing last year's strategic defence and security review, underlines the seriousness with which the Church of England takes these matters.

When looking at this Bill today, especially Clause 2, which has been so much the subject of noble Lords’ speeches so far, there can be little doubt as to the Government’s commitment to try to give real meaning to the military covenant, and that is to be wholly welcomed. As other noble Lords have already remarked, this concept has been gaining greater recognition and support in the community over recent years. I first became aware of this enhanced view of the military covenant seven or so years ago on a visit with a group of bishops to the Joint Services Command and Staff College Shrivenham. That gave me an opportunity to mention the military covenant to people in an address the following Remembrance Sunday. It was notable then how few people understood the concept, and that included the political representatives there that day. We have indeed come a long way in a few years in understanding what the whole concept is about. However, there is a continuing need to be vigilant over its observance.

I, too, am encouraged that the Bill does not include a schedule attempting to define too closely in law the exact nature of the relationship between government, the nation and the Armed Forces. A covenant is not a legal contract but a living evolving concept. The living out of a covenant should remain dependent on commitment and trust between parties, not on a legalistic and prescriptive contract in which outcomes and behaviour are predetermined—or, at least, where an attempt is made to predetermine them.

Expectations and obligations underpinning an essentially moral contract, which are at the heart of the Bill’s Armed Forces covenant, will of course change over time. It will be affected by underlying social trends, changes within the international system and within the Armed Forces themselves.

However, the health of the covenant has become the subject of debate, and there have been claims that expectations have not been fully met. I surmise that the Bill acknowledges this reality by proposing that the Secretary of State for Defence provides Parliament with the Armed Forces covenant report that we have been debating. The House has heard questions as to whether the reporting provisions as set out in Clause 2 are, in themselves, sufficient and adequate. I recognise that there is sufficient flexibility in the Bill’s provisions to allow the Secretary of State for Defence to report, if he so wished, on matters not set out in the Bill that might be considered pressing at the time. I also accept that when writing this report the Secretary of State will draw on the input from stakeholders such as the external reference group, the families federations and the chain of command, and I welcome the Minister’s assurance in this debate that there will indeed be that wide consultation.

However, I know that the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Wakefield, if he were here, would ask if it was entirely right and proper that the responsibility for monitoring and reporting on the health of the Armed Forces covenant should be left to the sole discretion of the Secretary of State for Defence, even if it includes the publication of the observations of the external reference group. It is the view of my colleague the right reverend Prelate and others on this Bench that this responsibility should in the end be entrusted to an independent office—maybe that of a reviewer of Armed Forces welfare. Such a reviewer would be free to inspect and report on all matters concerning the welfare of our Armed Forces and to report relevant findings to Parliament on an annual basis. Independence from government would ensure the credibility of reports and recommendations made to Parliament. It would help to create public trust and confidence that all are honouring the covenant.

I note with interest the recent research undertaken by the Royal British Legion, which shows that 73 per cent of respondents agreed that any report on the Armed Forces covenant should be produced independently of government. Perhaps that would enhance that independence. Amending the Bill to provide for independent reporting would perhaps be one way of avoiding any moves in the future towards that more prescriptive and legalistic approach to the covenant, which so many noble Lords have already said would be better avoided altogether. Keeping the Armed Forces covenant undefined makes more sense if responsibility for evaluating whether the trust and commitment that bind together all covenanted parties is entrusted to an independent body rather than left to the discretion of one party in the relationship.

There is much in this Bill that we on this Bench welcome and support. However, I have little doubt that the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Wakefield will, when the Bill reaches Committee, seek to table an amendment to the effect I have mentioned. He will have the support of others on this Bench and in the wider church, including the Armed Forces chaplains, as well as the many church-based voluntary services that provide much needed pastoral and welfare support to current and former service personnel.