Armed Forces Commissioner Bill

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 5th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, for his introduction to the Bill. I offer further broad Green support for the general direction of the Bill and the creation of an Armed Forces commissioner.

Since I have a large range of portfolios to cover, I will draw a couple of parallels with other areas, where we have seen similar positions created or proposed. It is worth looking at the parallels for those comparisons. The first of these was just a few days ago, in Committee on the Mental Health Bill, when an amendment was tabled—and will return on Report—to create a mental health commissioner; that is, a champion for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, shares what is being said here with his health colleagues.

In that debate, I drew a parallel with an already existing position, which has been highly successful—the Patient Safety Commissioner—which was fought for and won by Baroness Cumberlege, who has now retired from your Lordships’ House, sadly. The Patient Safety Commissioner has been really important as a champion for vulnerable people. As the powerful maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Carberry, outlined, all military personnel are vulnerable, being in the chain of the command and denied those union rights that we guarantee—one way or another—to most other workers. All military personnel are vulnerable.

When we think about who the commissioner is, we need to focus on the fact that some members of our Armed Forces are more vulnerable than others, particularly by reason of age or gender. A number of noble Lords, including the Minister, have focused on the tragic case of Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck. I point the Minister to something I said in the Moses Room in the Armed Forces (Court Martial) (Amendment No. 2) Rules debate. I had just been at a meeting where a representative of female personnel serving in the military said that where they are at now is going back to the attitudes of 2015, particularly in the treatment of female victims of abusers. I contrast that with the Army’s statement after the inquest into the tragic death of Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck, which said that there had been

“significant changes in the Army, including the introduction of clear and unequivocal policies to state that there will be zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviours”.

I welcome that statement from the Army, but it does not reflect what I have heard from serving personnel and people who speak to and represent them now.

At this point, I feel that I have to agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, about the importance of independent oversight of this appointment. I am not sure whether the Select Committee is the right procedure, but we definitely need that because this person will have such an important role. The noble Baroness commented about an anonymous whistleblower scheme, which we should also potentially look into because we know that sexual predators are often serial abusers and serial predators. It may be that their first, second or third victim does not feel, for whatever reason, that they can come forward. People may witness disturbing behaviour and it might be difficult to know whether to report that. An anonymous whistleblower scheme would potentially help some very vulnerable people in our military.

It probably will not surprise the Minister that the second group of vulnerable people I am going to focus on are the young people, particularly the under-18s, in our military. The Minister knows well my views on this, but the public may not have as much awareness as they need to of the fact that, for example, in 2021-22—to pick one year—23% of British recruits signed up before their 18th birthday. It was 30% if you take just the Army. Think about who the commissioner is going to have to serve; they will have to serve a significant number of children. That will have to be thought about when we consider who that commissioner is.

It is also worth focusing on the fact that the UK military focuses its recruitment on areas of socioeconomic deprivation, and those recruited as minors are disproportionately enlisted from those deprived areas. I point to some really interesting and disturbing work done by Jonathan Parry from LSE and Christina Easton from Warwick University, looking at some of the issues that arise from socioeconomic disadvantage. It can have negative effects on decision-making and inform a mental bandwidth tax, which affects cognition and control. Perhaps we should think clearly about the ability to access a post such as a commissioner. Socioeconomic deprivation is associated with educational and informational disadvantage. Three-quarters of junior recruits assessed in 2015 had a reading age of 11 or below, with some having a reading age of five. We need a commissioner who is able to help people in that situation.

I want to make one final, broader reflection. Many speakers have referred to the state of geopolitics. We have of course seen a great deal of talk about increasing the size of the military, and ensuring that we have a strong commissioner is relevant for this. The people talking about increasing the size of the military really need to look at the demographics, because they will see that by 2040 the population of 18 year-olds will be 10% smaller than it is now. Some figures on health published in the International Journal of Epidemiology showed that 25% of children born in England in 2003-04 had a chronic health condition by the time they reached the age of 16. It is crucial that we are able to look after the vulnerable people in our military, so we need the right person as a commissioner.