Armed Forces Bill

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Wednesday 6th July 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freeman]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak from these Benches later than my noble friend Lord Selkirk, who made a powerful speech. I join him in welcoming and supporting the Bill. He mentioned in passing the work of SkillForce, in which he plays a very important part. I mention it because it is almost the covenant in reverse. SkillForce employs ex-service men and women, some disabled, in over 200 schools, to teach difficult 14 and 15 year-olds who are taken out for one day a week for two years. The results are outstanding. I pay tribute to the Ministry of Defence, which initiated the scheme and as its founder deserves great praise.

I welcome the Bill. There is a lot to be improved and discussed in Committee; but I do not think we should be churlish—the Ministry of Defence, its officials, and particularly the Ministers have done an excellent job in bringing the Bill forward. It has my full support.

I want to speak briefly about the Reserve Forces, and the relevance of the covenant and the Bill to them. I make no apology for doing so as the former president of the UK Council of the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association. The chairman was our former Black Rod, General Viggers. I am glad to say that he is recovering, albeit slowly, and I am sure that your Lordships would join me in sending to both his wife and himself all best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Clause 28 deals with the call out of Reserve Forces, and makes a very important change. For the first time, statutory powers to mobilise reserves in the United Kingdom will come into force. For disasters, whether natural disasters such as flooding, or a major problem with, for example, the forthcoming Olympics—though of course I hope that that will not be the case—we have for many years relied on volunteers. Now they are to be mobilised and called up, which will provide them with the protection of the covenant. They will get security in returning to civil employment, employer support, and cover for injuries and other health problems. This change is, I think, broadly welcomed in your Lordships’ House, and is certainly welcomed by the reserves. The national call-up, on a similar basis as that upon which we call up our reserves to serve in Afghanistan or Iraq, marks a very significant change, and one to be welcomed.

Turning to Clause 2, I very much welcome the fact that the reserves are being put on the same basis as the regulars. We should bear in mind that the studies going on in the Ministry of Defence at the request of the Prime Minister could see—and I emphasise “could”, as there is no certainty—a significant increase in our reserves over the next five to 10 years. The study called Future Reserves 2022 discusses capitalising upon the skills of our reservists, and increasing their numbers significantly, particularly in the light of draw-down from the regular armed services in Germany. Recognising the special skills of some of our reservists will not only be cheaper for the taxpayer, but welcome. The practical implication of Clause 2 in relation to treating the reservists in exactly the same way as our regular forces—and bear in mind that, after service abroad, reservists come back to their community rather than to barracks—is that they will benefit from the provisions of the covenant, particularly in terms of healthcare. The noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, referred to mental health problems, sometimes called “combat stress”, and not to be confused with the charity of that name. Combat stress is a growing and serious problem. Reservists may have served, let us say, 10 years in Afghanistan, and might only then begin to show the symptoms of combat stress, and thus need to be covered, as I believe they will be, by the covenant.

In passing, I pay tribute to the injured reserves working group which has pinpointed some of the key problems. I also pay tribute to the liaison group that deals with the employers of reservists. It has made an interesting and powerful contribution to the preparation of the Bill.

I hope that we will proceed with the Committee, Report and Third Reading stages very quickly. If that has to be in the spillover session or when we come back in September, then so be it—but, for Heaven’s sake, let us get on with it, so that we can have the first annual report in time for debate next summer or early next autumn. I hope that my noble friend Lord Wallace will give some indication of the expected timing of when we might debate the reports. I conclude by supporting the Bill and congratulating my colleagues on the Front Bench.