Draft Armed Forces Act 2006 (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order 2017

Gerald Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 24th January 2018 General Committees

[Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Dorries. The Opposition support this legislation because it makes an important amendment to the 2006 Act, to ensure that sexual assault, voyeurism and exposure are always investigated by the service police where an allegation is made to a commanding officer.

As the Minister mentioned, the manual of service law already advises officers that they must take legal advice where such an offence is reported to them. There is a presumption that these offences will normally be referred to the service police. Although that might be happening in practice in almost all cases, it is none the less important to put this right in law, not only to ensure that these serious offences are always investigated by service police, but to send a message to those who come forward with allegations that these will always be treated in the same way as other offences under schedule 2.

Hon. Members will be aware that this issue has been debated for some time. I pay tribute to my colleague, the noble Lord Touhig, who proposed an amendment to the 2016 Act to this effect. I also welcome the fact that the Government made it clear in 2016 that it would make the changes that we are debating today.

We are all aware that sexual offences and harassment have had widespread coverage of late. That has meant that people from all walks of life have felt empowered to come forward and report cases of abuse. Of course, as well as ensuring that alleged offences are investigated and handled properly, we must ensure that there is support available for those who come forward, and we must redouble our efforts, through education and training, to underline the clear standards of behaviour that are expected of everybody.