Armed Forces Bill

Baroness Drake Excerpts

Wednesday 6th July 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Drake]

My Lords, defence matters are not my area of expertise. Many in this Chamber today are very well informed. I wish to speak on the practices and processes surrounding the recruitment of young people under the age of 18 into the Armed Forces, and the military covenant report. Last year 16 and 17 year-olds made up 29.8 per cent of Armed Forces recruits. That is a very significant proportion which carries with it a very significant responsibility for ensuring accountability for their care.

Recruits who enlist at 16 and 17, from disadvantaged backgrounds and with limited or no qualifications, have a much narrower choice of roles. They are concentrated into roles such as infantry service, which are more likely to involve frontline duties and which carry greater risk of death or injury. This is not an argument against recruitment. Rather, it is an argument for ensuring transparency, scrutiny and accountability when it comes to recruiting and discharging young recruits.

We owe an enormous amount to the men and women of the Armed Forces, who have chosen to fight for their country, for the risks they take and the sacrifices they make. They show enormous courage and dedication. As General Sir Michael Rose eloquently puts it, no other group,

“so expressly sacrifice themselves for the nation”.

The country owes a great deal to the service family and we should reciprocate with respect and protection. It is a very important part of the military covenant that those who are recruited into the Armed Forces as minors are protected. Undoubtedly many young recruits thrive in the Armed Forces, which provide opportunities, education, a career and a lifestyle. There are many stories of the personal achievements of young recruits, and for many the Army provides a rich and rewarding career. I congratulate those who work so hard with young soldiers, building their skills and their employment opportunities. However, when it is believed that the child’s best interests are served by joining the Armed Forces, that child’s evolving ability to understand risk or to change their mind is also important. The Armed Forces may provide an escape route for some young men from disadvantaged backgrounds but this will not work for all.

I fully acknowledged that a career in the Armed Forces provides opportunities to young men, giving them training, structure, self-respect, purpose and team skills. However, as in every sphere of public policy, anecdotal evidence alone is not a basis upon which to develop, make or defend policy. Recruiting under-18s is a policy choice worthy of report in the military covenant report. Looking at the figures available, and the information from the Defence Committee’s duty of care investigation and report in 2005, it is common ground that that the youngest recruits are, by a great majority, children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and of low educational achievement. The number of young recruits entering the services after leaving local authority care was also raised in that report.

For it to be a sufficient discharge of the duty of care to say that a parental or guardian consent is required, there needs to be a high level of confidence that parents are meaningfully engaged and involved. When a child has been in care, how truly involved are those with responsibility of guardianship? Whatever one’s viewpoint, I hope we can all agree that recruiting minors gives a compelling reason to ensure that the covenant is met for them, that the transition to being an adult member of the Armed Forces is founded on clear consent at 18, that there are no barriers to the choice made by young soldiers, particularly those of low educational achievement or those who have experienced social deprivation, and that that is so evidenced.

As the House will know, after the first six months in the forces, until three months following their 18th birthday, young recruits may be discharged at the discretion of the commanding officer. The Joint Committee on Human Rights commented in its May 2010 report on the Armed Forces Bill that a significant number of helpful statistics were provided by the Government. However, it expressed concern about the lack of statistics on the number of young people requesting discharge who were then either discharged or had their request refused, which made scrutiny of these arrangements difficult. It went on to comment that,

“without special provision for discharge (other than at the discretion of the commanding officer), there is a risk that continued service may not be considered voluntary … We recommend that a right to discharge for under-18s be established”.

The Written Statement made in the other place by Andrew Robathan, Under-Secretary of State for Defence, is to be welcomed. He said that,

“for those under the age of 18, the ability to be discharged will in future be a right up to the age of 18, subject to an appropriate period of consideration or cooling off”.—[Official Report, Commons, 19/5/11; col. 26WS.]

That right will, I understand, be introduced through separate legislation. However, there are still questions about the conditions under which that right will operate. Will any person enlisting under the age of 18 be clearly informed of this right? What will be the length of the cooling-off period? I ask because that Minister also said, on 14 June, in relation to that Statement, that,

“we shall make every effort to dissuade good young people from leaving if we wish to retain them”.—[Official Report, Commons, 14/6/11; col. 733.]

This leads me to ask such questions as: what type of dissuasion will the young recruit be subject to during that period? How will the Government ensure that a Minister’s benign intention to prevent a young man making a career mistake does not translate into a form of pressure?

I am sure that the Government have legitimate concerns about maintaining the quantity of recruits and reducing wastage in the costs incurred in training and investing in young recruits. I am sure there are many who will advise me that the Armed Forces have an effective framework in place for handling the transition from adolescence to adulthood. However, I return to where I opened: when 30 per cent of Armed Forces recruits are minors, it carries a high responsibility and warrants effective scrutiny. These concerns should be addressed by having a clear right of discharge for young recruits up to their 18th birthday.

The Bill enshrines in law a report on the military covenant from the Secretary of State, which must have regard to the unique obligations of and sacrifices made by the Armed Forces. It would be both right and appropriate for Clause 2 to provide for that covenant report explicitly to cover the impact of Armed Forces life on those recruited below the age of 18, including the long-term educational and employment outcomes for young people. This should not be a matter of discretion for the Secretary of State but a requirement, given the duty of care to those young people. When so many Armed Forces recruits are under 18, it places a responsibility on us all to ensure that the scrutiny and transparency of the experience of these children should be increased and assured. It would also go some way to addressing the concerns expressed by the Joint Committee on Human Rights.