Armed Forces Commissioner Bill

Lord Colgrain Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 5th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Colgrain (Con)]

My Lords, I add my congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Carberry, on her excellent maiden speech. We are obviously very fortunate to have her in your Lordships’ House. I shall not detain noble Lords very long in this refrigerator of a Chamber.

I thank the Minister for his excellent introductory remarks and for the briefing he undertook last week at the MoD. At that briefing, I asked him a question regarding reservists and the extent to which, and when, reservists will fall within the commissioner’s new remit. I tried to make the point that the moment of deployment for reservists is not as clear cut as it is for regulars, given their particular domestic circumstances and their relationships with their employers. The definition of their deployment date cannot always be readily ascertained. Thus, their particular general service welfare matters and, subsequently, service law may need to be viewed from a slightly different perspective.

I was delighted to hear that the Minister’s son-in-law is a reservist; he indicated last week that, as a result, he had an inkling as to the point I was trying to make. I had the impression that, as a consequence, he might have said something in the introduction to this debate that would clarify the situation regarding reservists: he did indeed use an all-encompassing expression which included the word “reservists”, but really no more than that. I may have got this wrong but as I looked through the Bill I could find neither reference to the point I was making nor even the word “reservist”.

I hesitate to talk too much about reserves, given that in front of me is my noble friend Lord Lancaster, who knows much more about reserves than I ever will, but he, unbeknownst to me, encapsulated part of the worry I have by referencing both a pensions issue and a pay issue in the past. I find myself thinking that there may be an overview problem associated with the Bill and reservists in particular. I wonder whether there is a means whereby the Minister might agree to get together with me, my noble friend Lord Lancaster and anybody else who has a particular reservist interest to see whether we can do the equivalent of stress-testing certain circumstances whereby reservists might find themselves having the Bill applied to them slightly differently from regulars, and see whether that might be a worthwhile starting point.

Armed Forces Commissioner Bill

Lord Colgrain Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 24th March 2025 Grand Committee

So, this amendment needs to be reflected on by the Minister in terms of how we can knit it into the overall responsibilities of the Armed Forces commissioner. Without it, a whole group of people who are vital to our defence effort could miss out.

[Lord Colgrain (Con)]

My Lords, I am in favour of Amendment 21A in the name of my noble friend Lord Harlech, to which I have added my name.

At Second Reading, I asked a question of the Minister regarding when reserves would come under the remit of the Bill. My question was supported by my noble friend Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton; sadly, he is not here today because he is with NATO in Moldova. The Minister was extremely generous with his time and subsequently gave me sight of a briefing note, which goes through in considerable detail the points that I wanted him to address; I am most grateful for that. However, the last paragraph of his briefing note brings me to the point of this particular question. It is entitled:

“How will the reserves find out about the commissioner?”


It goes on:

“During implementation, we are committed to ensuring the voices of reservists in scope of the commissioner are heard and their unique experiences and challenges are fully considered. We will actively engage with relevant reservists to ensure their welfare needs are effectively addressed, and that they are aware of the commissioner”.


Can the Minister reflect on that and see whether he cannot provide a form of words that would give us all comfort that, in fact, reservists will be made aware from day one of how they can access the commissioner? Can he also put that in the context of our debate earlier this afternoon, with particular reference to whistleblowing; and imagine what it would be like for someone who finds themselves, almost on day one, in a position where they need to access the commissioner? How would they do that? I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.

[Lord Craig of Radley (CB)]

My Lords, I, too, support these amendments. Much of what I would have liked to say has already been said, but the importance that is attached both to reserves and to the contribution they make to the regular forces will, as we go forward, grow more and more. It may well appear in the defence review as one of those key steps that are being taken. If it is, and even if it is not, I still believe that the recognition of the work of the Reserve Forces, right in the middle of the regular forces, needs to be recognised in this particular way. It would be invidious to leave the Reserve Forces outside, as it were, the responsibility of the commissioner.