Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill [HL]

Lord Thomas of Gresford Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rosser]

My Lords, I will be brief, not least because I assume that the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, although he may not make exactly the same points, will make very similar points. On the issue of service complaints, the Bill refers to,

“a person subject to service law”,

who thinks that they have been wronged. It states:

“If a person who has ceased to be subject to service law thinks himself or herself wronged in any matter relating to his or her service which occurred while he or she was so subject, the person may make a complaint about the matter”.

However, it goes no further than that.

At Second Reading my noble friend Lady Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde raised the issue that when a service man or woman has died without making a complaint there appears to be no room for a family member to pursue a complaint on their behalf. There would seem to be powerful reasons that when an individual’s family or friends have information or evidence to suggest that a member of their family was treated unfairly in their service life, they should be able to take steps to find out the truth, and to be in a position, if needed, to make sure that a complaint that is going through the procedure at the time that the member of the services died can continue.

At Second Reading a number of noble Lords made reference to the case of Anne-Marie Ellement and the investigation conducted by the Royal Military Police which led to a decision being made that no charges should be brought. However, when it came, a long time later, to the inquest, it found that the lingering effect of an act of alleged rape, which was described as work-related despair and bullying, had contributed to that person’s death. There was a feeling that the information about the working and living conditions that the person endured would not have been available had it not been for the lengthy procedure in that case to get a second inquest.

Surely we ought to have a process that would enable issues such as that to be raised by the family on behalf of a member of the services who has died, whether the death occurs before a complaint has been made when evidence comes to light that indicates that a complaint could be pursued, or whether it occurs when a complaint is already going through the process but has not been finalised. Surely giving family members the opportunity to ask for a complaint to be investigated is both just for families and an opportunity for learning and improvement. I think I am also right in saying that the prisons ombudsman has discretion to investigate complaints made by the family members of deceased individuals. I hope that the Minister will look sympathetically on the issue covered in this amendment and in the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford. I beg to move.

[Lord Thomas of Gresford (LD)]

I will speak to Amendment 5, which covers very much the same ground as that just covered by the noble Lord, Lord Rosser. However, I think that it is perhaps more succinct than his amendment. I do not think that it is necessary for the family to think that a person has been wronged. If there is a complaint, the relatives, next of kin or personal representative should be able to pursue it.

If a wrong has caused the death, the problem with the coroner’s inquest is that those proceedings are not instituted by a member of the family or next of kin but by the coroner himself. That may take time and cause delay. It seems to me that it is appropriate and would avoid a great deal of hurt for the next of kin or personal representative to be able to take the complaint to the ombudsman. That would deal with the situation where a person has died as a result of the wrong but, of course, if there is some other issue, the coroner will have no part in it at all. There again, it should be open to the next of kin to make the application, and to do it in as prompt a manner as possible. A point of principle is involved here and I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, both the amendments in this group deal with an issue that was raised at Second Reading by a number of noble Lords, including the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, and the noble Baroness, Lady Dean. That issue is whether the family of a deceased person should be able to bring a complaint on their behalf or to continue a complaint where it was made before the person died. It is clear that there is support across the House for allowing complaints to be made or continued in such circumstances.

The first amendment in this group would allow the family of a person who has died during the course of their service to make a complaint if they think that the deceased person suffered some wrong in relation to their service. The second amendment, in the names of my noble friends, covers slightly different ground in that it also deals with the situation where a complaint has been made and the complainant then dies. In such cases, it proposes that the next of kin or personal representative can continue the complaint.

The Bill provides for a complaints process that enables serving or former members of the Regular or Reserve Armed Forces to complain about any matter that has arisen as part of their service. That right is subject to certain conditions, such as bringing the complaint within a given period. Certain matters are excluded from the complaints process because there are other, more appropriate, avenues available to deal with the issue raised—for example, a service complaint cannot be made about a matter that can be the subject of an appeal under the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act or is a decision of the Security Vetting Appeals Panel. The service complaints process allows military personnel to raise matters that relate directly to them and where they will have a clear understanding of what they would wish to see happen to redress the wrong that they believe they have experienced.

As I mentioned at Second Reading, complaints can be brought on a wide range of issues. The type and number of complaints varies from year to year and between the single services, with the majority tending to be about the broad range of terms of conditions issues. Bullying and harassment complaints accounted for 10% of all complaints in 2013 for the Royal Navy, and 43% for the Army. As might be expected, complaints that have the potential to have an adverse effect on career prospects and on pay tend to be the greatest in number. In 2013, such complaints accounted for 89% of all Navy complaints, 50% in the Army and 54% in the Royal Air Force.

For the complaints system to be fair, it has to give equal consideration to all parties who may be involved. That means that the person making the complaint and anyone else who might be implicated in it, or otherwise affected by it, should have the opportunity to put their case. For example, a complaint about whether someone was entitled to a particular allowance may include allegations that someone sought to falsify facts so that their eligibility was in doubt or that someone deliberately misled them about their eligibility. A complaint about harassment might hinge on the intentions behind comments made or on the actions of either the complainant or the person who is alleged to have harassed them. There may be issues of what was considered acceptable behaviour by both parties. There may be witnesses to the alleged behaviour who need to be involved. For any process to be fair, and for there to be confidence in it, all the parties involved must be able to put forward their own version of events and be able to challenge the version presented by others. That is the natural basis of justice. It is particularly important where reputations or future careers may be affected.

In dealing with any complaint, it is important not to lose sight of the implications for the individuals involved. We must not allow a rigid and inflexible process to override the rights of those involved. Any system must be sensitive and adaptable. A person does not make a complaint lightly. Raising a complaint means that something is causing the individual great concern, whether it is their annual appraisal and its implications for their pay and career, the condition of their property, or bullying and harassment. Complaints may also raise issues with wider implications for the services. Tackling complaints quickly and sensitively therefore has benefits regardless of the nature of the complaint. This need for sensitivity, however, is crucial where a person has died, whether or not his or her death has any connection to an existing or potential complaint.

It may also be helpful to give an example of how a service has responded when an issue has arisen in the course of other proceedings, and the potential complainant is deceased. The noble Lord, Lord Rosser, mentioned the tragic case of Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement. Her family, with the support of Liberty, secured a new inquest into her death earlier this year. The coroner presiding over the inquest concluded that Corporal Ellement had been the subject of workplace bullying. The Army had already decided before the inquest that consideration needed to be given to any action it might take, depending on the coroner’s findings. To that end, the Army was able to act quickly to put in place an internal investigation after the judgment was known. That investigation is looking at what happened in this case and whether any action should or can be taken against individuals. The investigation is made difficult by the fact that the person against whom these dreadful acts were perpetrated is sadly no longer able to give her own account of events, while those against whom any allegations have since been levelled cannot challenge fully the record of those events. It is, however, a strong reflection of the seriousness with which the Army takes its responsibilities in situations of this kind that, in this particular instance, it recognised the need to act early, and that it is doing so now.

It may be helpful if I give an example of a case in which the complainant died before their complaint had concluded. Noble Lords will understand that, in doing so, I must be very careful not to identify inadvertently the individual who was involved, so I will not give any specific details. Such situations are mercifully very rare, but when they arise we must respond sensitively and in the interests of justice for all parties.

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It is for that reason that I must resist these amendments. I ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

Perhaps I may speak to Amendment 5 now, because I do not propose to move it today. The second example given by the Minister makes my point, because that is a situation where a death may have been caused by the matter complained of and the complaint had been lodged—so we understand—prior to the decease of the complainant. No doubt it will be dealt with sensitively, but under the Bill the Defence Council would be entitled to say, “You can’t maintain it any further. The person has died and that’s an end of it. Under this Act, we are not going to take it any further”. The question of whether to continue with a complaint after somebody has died should not be in the discretion of the Defence Council; it should be in accordance with the Bill. It would be for the personal panel of persons appointed by the council or the council itself to determine the complaint if it were maintained, and of course it would hear the evidence.

The evidence would not be as effective from the point of view of the complainant’s personal representatives if the original complainant could not give evidence. However, that is just a matter of evidence; it is not a question of principle. As in the case to which the noble Lord referred, it might be possible to maintain a complaint on documentary evidence or, indeed, through witnesses who would have been called by the complainant in the first place in support of the complaint.

I regret to say that I do not think that the Minister’s answer deals with the point that has been raised, and I shall consider the position for Report.

[Lord Rosser]

I thank the Minister for his very full reply, for which I am genuinely grateful. The overall impression that I get is that the response is that, if there is to be an investigation in these circumstances, it will be done through, rather than outside, the chain of command. I appreciate that this is a sensitive issue but my immediate reaction is that I find it a little difficult to believe that there is no role at all for the Service Complaints Ombudsman to play, bearing in mind that the ombudsman also has to make a decision on whether a complaint can or should be pursued. Perhaps there should be a little more confidence in the ability of the Service Complaints Ombudsman to handle the matter in an appropriate way. I would hope that somebody appointed to that position would be able to do that.

However, I note, and am grateful for, the Minister’s full response. I wish to leave this in the context that we will clearly wish to consider the Government’s response carefully before deciding whether to pursue the matter further. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

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Moved by

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

7: Clause 2, page 3, line 12, at end insert—
“( ) The belief of the officer to whom a service complaint is made that the complaint is not well founded does not render the complaint inadmissible.”

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

My Lords, this amendment was drafted before I had the chance of seeing the draft regulations. It was, in any event, a statement of the bleeding obvious, as one might say, that the officer to whom the complaint was made could not make up his own mind as to whether it was factually correct, well founded or anything of that sort. I would have hoped for a favourable response from the Minister in any event. However, I now see that the draft regulations flesh out the grounds given in proposed new Section 340B(5)(c). Why that is done in regulations and not in the Bill I do not know but those three grounds are well confined and I am quite satisfied that the fear that I had was ill founded. Nevertheless, I beg to move.

[Lord Tunnicliffe (Lab)]

My Lords, for the avoidance of doubt, we degrouped Amendment 20 and will move it in its place.

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, Amendment 7 would make it clear that a service complaint could not be rendered inadmissible by the officer receiving it simply because he believed it was without merit. It may be helpful if I explain the role of the specified officer on receipt of a service complaint. His or her role will be to decide whether the complaint is admissible in accordance with new Section 340B. The officer will not consider the merits of the complaint at all at this stage. That is not possible under the Bill as the appointment of a person or panel of persons to decide whether the complaint is well founded can take place only after the admissibility decision under new Section 340C. The officer’s function at the admissibility stage is to see whether, first, the complaint is about a matter excluded from the service complaints system in regulations made by the Secretary of State, secondly, whether the complaint is out of time and, thirdly, whether the complaint is inadmissible on other grounds specified by the Defence Council in regulations.

Noble Lords will have seen the initial draft regulations prepared by the department which cover, among other things, the other grounds of inadmissibility. It is proposed that those grounds are that the complainant does not allege any wrong, or that the complaint is a repeat of one already brought by the complainant and being considered in the service complaints process, or one that has already been determined.

The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee helpfully reported on the Bill in advance of Committee, for which we are grateful. It drew attention to the powers conferred by new Section 340B(5)(c) on the Defence Council to specify additional grounds of inadmissibility and concluded that those powers were too widely drawn. My department responded to the committee, explaining what these regulations are intended to cover and made reference to the initial draft regulations that are now available to Members of the House.

Now that noble Lords have seen what is intended here, I hope that some of their concerns about the scope of this provision will have been allayed. There is no intention to use this power to rule out broad categories of complaint. That would run counter to the clear policy behind the Bill to consider all wrongs in relation to a person’s service, subject to very limited exceptions. In any event, I have asked officials to explore whether anything further might be done in relation to the scope of this power. That will be done before Report stage.

The role of the receiving officer at the admissibility stage is quite limited and is strictly focused on the matters set out in the Bill, as will be amplified in the regulations in due course. There is no power for a complaint to be declared inadmissible on its merits at this stage. If a receiving officer declared a complaint inadmissible on merit grounds, the complainant would be able to apply for a review of that decision by the ombudsman. In the circumstances, we would expect the ombudsman to overturn the inadmissibility decision and the complaint would proceed. The ombudsman’s decision on any such review will be binding on both the parties. That is provided for in Regulation 7 of the initial draft service complaints regulations. In the circumstances, I must resist Amendment 7 and ask my noble friend to withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister for his clear exposition and statement that this subsection will not be used to extend the grounds of inadmissibility. No officer who receives a service complaint should be under any misapprehension that he is entitled to decide the merits himself before putting it to the panel or Defence Council, who are the proper people for deciding whether it is well founded. I am quite sure that, with that clear statement of policy, there will be no problem. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 7 withdrawn.

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[Lord Rosser]

My Lords, proposed new Section 340O in Clause 2 provides that the Secretary of State may require the ombudsman to prepare and give to the Secretary of State a report on any aspect of the system mentioned in subsection (2)(a), relating to the complaints system, and any matter relating to any of the ombudsman’s functions in new Part 14A. These powers appear in the proposed new section about the ombudsman’s annual report on the system for dealing with service complaints. It is not clear whether proposed new Section 340O(6) relates to what the Secretary of State may require the ombudsman to include in the annual report, or whether it could also include the Secretary of State calling for an additional report at any time on a particular issue from the ombudsman outwith the annual report. Perhaps the Minister, either in his reply or subsequently, will be able to clear up that point.

Whatever the answer, the reality is that the Secretary of State for Defence has never asked the present commissioner to report on a particular area of concern that she or the Secretary of State may have, outside her normal annual reporting cycle. The Commons Defence Select Committee reported last year that the present commissioner had told it that if she were to report on particular areas of concern, she would look at cases of bullying, which include assault, and issues to do with mental health, and access to services, race and the handling of those cases. The Select Committee went on to report that during visits to units the commissioner had been informed of issues that would not come to her as complaints but on which she thought some work needed to be done. The commissioner told the Select Committee:

“That is what I would do, and that is I think what ombudsmen do. They have this broader view, whether they be the health service ombudsman, parliamentary ombudsman or the Children’s Commissioner, who today has powers to do research and inquiries. They can pull together in an informed and responsible way evidence across the piece and put it forward in a way that is very valuable to the organisation that they oversee”.

The Select Committee went on to say that it believed that there would be value in the commissioner being able to undertake research and report on thematic issues in addition to the annual reports. It said that the commissioner’s experience on these issues should be utilised.

The effect of Amendment 9 is to seek to give the Service Complaints Ombudsman the power, after advising the Secretary of State, to investigate any matter deemed to be in the public interest on any aspect of the system that is mentioned in proposed new Section 340O(2)(a), relating to the efficiency, effectiveness and fairness of the system, and any matter relating to the ombudsman’s functions under new Part 14A. That would mean that the ombudsman would be able to report to the Secretary of State on wider and thematic issues if the ombudsman felt that this was desirable and in the public interest.

The purpose of the amendment, which I hope it achieves, is to give the ombudsman rather wider powers to be able to report on thematic issues—not to appear to be dependent on the Secretary of State asking for such reports but for the ombudsman to be able to make that decision. There has clearly been support for that not only from the present Service Complaints Commissioner but from the Defence Select Committee. I should have thought that there would have been a view that it would be helpful if the ombudsman could make reports on such issues where the ombudsman felt that it was in the public interest and would make a contribution to improving an existing situation which the ombudsman did not think was entirely right or appropriate and needed addressing. I hope that the Minister will be able to give a favourable response.

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

I shall speak to Amendment 10, which is in my name and that of my noble friends. I follow very much the thinking of the noble Lord, Lord Rosser. I think that the first paragraph of my amendment, which states that the ombudsman,

“shall investigate any matter referred to the Ombudsman by written direction of the Defence Council”,

puts clearly the Defence Council’s power to give such a written direction. I find the power given in proposed new Section 340O(6) to be slightly confusing. It is under the heading, “Annual report on system for dealing with service complaints”, but it is not at all clear that that is a wide power for the ombudsman to investigate something beyond the preparation of a report and the points on which the ombudsman makes a report in that document.

The ombudsman should have a clear power to investigate matters referred to him. Under paragraph (b) of my amendment, I argue, as has the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, that it is in the public interest that the ombudsman should on his own motion, after advising the Defence Council,

“carry out an investigation of any allegations of systemic abuse or injustice if it appears to him to be in the public interest”.

We have qualified that by saying that there should be compelling circumstances. It is not that the ombudsman could justify investigating anything. It may very well be that, in the course of the investigation of individual complaints, it will come to the attention of the ombudsman that there is a culture of abuse or bullying in a particular area. He may well feel that he would have to investigate that on his own initiative, and not await instruction, following his annual report, from the Secretary of State.

As the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, pointed out, this has the support of the committee that has looked into it, and I hope that the Minister will be open to amending the Act—if not in the precise words that I have put forward, then certainly in the spirit of my amendment.

[Lord Palmer of Childs Hill]

My Lords, perhaps I may add just a few words to those of the noble Lord and my noble friend. I spoke about this at Second Reading and gave examples of the Canadian authorities. The words “compelling circumstances” were taken exactly from what the Canadians do—to give the ombudsman the power so that he or she can, in compelling circumstances, do what my noble friend Lord Thomas has described. I hope that the Government will consider examples from overseas which we can incorporate into our legislation.

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This group of amendments would extend the ombudsman’s remit beyond that required and against provisions that already offer sufficient scope for the ombudsman to raise wider issues in appropriate ways, as they see necessary, and to provide an input to investigations or inquiries conducted by other appropriate bodies, as would other specialised bodies. On that basis, I must resist the amendments and I ask the noble Lord to withdraw Amendment 9 and my noble friend not to press Amendment 10.

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

I am grateful to the Minister for his reply on Amendment 10. I understand him to be saying that it would be possible for the recommendations on an individual case to include a wider overview of the problems that the ombudsman saw. For example, suppose that in a particular unit there were some five or six individual complaints about an initiation ceremony that went far too far. Presumably, according to what the Minister has said—I am sure that he will correct me if I am wrong—the recommendations from the ombudsman in each individual case could get stronger and stronger that these matters must stop and must be investigated and dealt with properly. I hope that I have understood the Minister correctly. If I have, then I shall not be moving my amendment.

[Lord Astor of Hever]

Before the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, responds, I should say that I misunderstood my brief. My noble friend Lord Palmer asked me about Canada, and the answer that I gave relates to Canada, not to the question that the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, asked. With regard to Canada, we looked at ombudsmen within the public sector in the UK but did not look at models from overseas, so we did not look at the Canadian model.

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[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

As someone else who is not in the Armed Forces, I point out that there is no point in giving to the Service Complaints Ombudsman the powers set out in new Section 340J of requiring a person to provide documents and other information unless there is some sanction. All that new Section 340K does is to put into the Bill the normal sanction that arises in these cases. I draw to the attention of those who have tabled the amendment that the measure does not refer to service personnel but to “a person”. That person could be a civil servant in the Ministry of Defence or a person who has nothing to do with the Armed Forces at all but just happens to have witnessed a particular event, and whose information as a civilian witness would be very helpful to the ombudsman in determining precisely what has gone on. If you are going to give the ombudsman the powers to call for papers and witnesses, as one rightly should, there has to be a sanction attached.

[Earl Attlee (Con)]

My Lords, I remind the Committee of my interest as I am still a serving TA officer, albeit not very active these days. This is the only area of concern that I have with the Bill and I urge my noble friend the Minister to pay very careful attention to it.

I certainly do not regard this as a probing amendment. I do not understand why the ombudsman would not be able to ask the Secretary of State to get on to the chain of command to get the documents, or whatever information is required, released. The Service Complaints Commissioner made it quite clear to us in a recent meeting, for which we were grateful, that she was perfectly happy as regards her access to Ministers. As the noble and gallant Lord said, Ministers can direct the chain of command to release the information. However, a problem could arise with these arrangements if compliance with the ombudsman’s request interfered with current operations to some extent, especially if staff effort had to be diverted from current operations to meet the ombudsman’s request. I hope that my noble friend can meet the concerns of noble and gallant Lords in this regard. I agree with the argument made by my noble friend Lord Deben. It is fine to make legislation consistent provided that no adverse implications can arise from that. I believe that could be the case if this provision is included in the Bill.

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Moved by

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

13: Clause 2, page 8, line 39, at end insert—
“( ) The recommendations of the Ombudsman may include a recommendation for the payment of compensation to the complainant or, in the event of his or her death, to family or personal representative.”

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

I think that I am pushing at an open door here, because in his response on Second Reading the Minister said that the recommendations of the ombudsman may very well include the payment of compensation. I could not resist having a confirmation of that position in Committee, because I think that compensation, where appropriate, is a very reasonable remedy for complaints that may be advanced by a complainant. I beg to move.

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, this amendment would add to new Section 340L a specific reference setting out that the ombudsman could recommend the payment of compensation if, having investigated a matter raised by a complainant, it were to find that there was maladministration in the way that the complaint was dealt with by the chain of command that has, or may have, led to injustice that should be rectified.

The Bill provides that the ombudsman may make any recommendations that it considers appropriate. The ombudsman has wide discretion in all aspects of the new powers that are provided for it in the Bill. This discretion is an important element in assuring Armed Forces personnel that the ombudsman is independent, without which they will see no benefit in approaching it and no value in its investigations. The reforms that the Bill provides for in the complaints process itself are aimed at making it possible to reach a final decision on a complaint more quickly while still being within a system that is fair in the widest sense. Together, the creation of a strengthened oversight role in the form of the ombudsman and the shortened process are designed to increase the confidence of service personnel in the chain of command and in the process. If they lack that confidence, complaints will not be raised and matters of concern cannot be addressed, which can ultimately have a detrimental effect on unit cohesion and effectiveness.

The draft regulations, which were circulated to noble Lords, would to a limited extent apply procedures to the way in which the ombudsman would deal with applications made to it by complainants, how it would conduct its investigations if it accepted applications, and how it should respond when producing reports on those investigations. It is right that the Bill provides a framework for how the ombudsman will exercise its functions, and that the regulations provide some further detail to the options that should then be available to it. However, it does not follow that there should be a specific reference to a particular form that a recommendation may take, either in the Bill or in the regulations.

In that respect, it must be remembered that a serving or former member of the Armed Forces can make a service complaint about a very wide range of matters. They may also make an application to the ombudsman about any number of possible variations of a complaint of maladministration—a term that itself is deliberately not defined, in common with all other ombudsman legislation. Maladministration covers traditional grounds of judicial review, such as procedural impropriety and irrationality, but also wider concepts such as excessive delay, failure to give adequate advice, or rudeness.

While the complainant will be asked to set out what form they think the maladministration has taken in their case, it will be open to the ombudsman, having gone on to investigate the case, to find that another form of maladministration has in fact occurred. From a more practical point of view, it is therefore not possible to provide in the Bill for every permutation of likely recommendation that the ombudsman might make. That is why the provision in the Bill leaves it open to the ombudsman to make such recommendations as it considers appropriate, and it is why this amendment is resisted.

Any recommendation should, however, be reasonable and proportionate based on what the ombudsman has found and the degree of injustice that has or may have been suffered. If the ombudsman therefore considers that compensation of a certain value is appropriate, the Bill also provides that the ombudsman gives reasons for the findings in its report and for the recommendation made.

The amendment also refers to the ombudsman’s ability to recommend the payment of compensation to family or a personal representative in the event that the complainant dies before the complaint has been concluded. All recommendations made by the ombudsman are to be considered by the Defence Council, which must decide how to respond. The Bill provides that a recommendation can be rejected, in which event reasons must be given in writing to the ombudsman and to the complainant. Alternatively, the Defence Council must write to them both setting out the action, if any, that it has taken in response to the ombudsman’s findings and to any recommendations that the ombudsman has made. It is open to the Defence Council to decide that a complaint should be reconsidered to whatever extent it considers appropriate, based on those findings and recommendations. A payment of compensation may be the outcome of any of these courses of action and, where that is appropriate, any payment will be made to the complainant’s estate if the complainant has died.

If in taking forward any action in response to the ombudsman’s recommendations it is necessary to have the personal testimony of the now deceased complainant, the chain of command will need to consider carefully what, if any, further action can reasonably be pursued. That will be particularly important if the complainant’s personal testimony is key to the matter proceeding fairly.

There is a need to preserve the independence of the ombudsman, to give our personnel confidence in the ombudsman’s office, and to give the ombudsman the flexibility that it needs to be able to make recommendations that address the varied nature of complaints that can be brought his way. In the light of that, I ask my noble friend to withdraw his amendment.

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[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

I am most grateful to the Minister for his very full explanation and for his confirmation that recommendations can involve the payment of compensation to the estate in appropriate circumstances if the complainant has died. In the light of that, I have pleasure in seeking to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 13 withdrawn.

Moved by

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

14: Clause 2, page 9, line 15, at end insert—
“( ) accept the findings of the Service Complaints Ombudsman,”

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

Amendments 14, 15 and 16 are concerned with the action following receipt of a report by the Defence Council. At Second Reading, I was very concerned to draw a distinction between the findings of the ombudsman and the ombudsman’s recommendations.

New Section 340M(1) deals with the way in which the Defence Council must consider a report and give its response. If it decides to reject a recommendation, it must give reasons in writing for that rejection. What it does not state is that the Defence Council cannot second-guess the findings of fact on the merits of the ombudsman. The purpose of my amendments is to obtain from the Minister an assurance that the Defence Council cannot interfere with the findings of the Service Complaints Ombudsman, although of course it may consider the recommendations. It has full discretion as to what to do, having regard to the finances involved and the justice of the case.

New Section 340M(1)(c) simply says,

“where the Council decide to reject a recommendation, notify the Ombudsman and the complainant, giving reasons in writing for the rejection”.

My view, which I urge on the Minister, is that it should be quite explicit that the Defence Council can modify instead of reject the recommendations. It can decide to accept the recommendations in part, and simply reject a part with which it disagrees. All that can be dealt with by an assurance from the Minister from the Dispatch Box that that is the intention of the legislation. I beg to move.

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[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, Amendment 14 would make the ombudsman’s recommendations binding on the Defence Council and would mean that the Defence Council had no choice but to accept the findings of the ombudsman in all cases. Amendments 15 and 16 aim to clarify the powers of the Defence Council in responding to recommendations from the ombudsman —to make clear that the Defence Council can reject or modify a recommendation.

It is our intention that the findings of the ombudsman in its investigation report will, in effect, be binding on the Defence Council. The Defence Council would be able to judicially review those findings if it considered them to be irrational or otherwise flawed on other public law grounds. However, we do not anticipate that happening, and expect the Defence Council to accept the findings before going on to consider any recommendations that the ombudsman may have made in the case.

There has been recent judicial consideration of the legal status of both findings and recommendations in relation to the local government ombudsman. While that consideration related to a different ombudsman, we anticipate that a court would apply those principles to the legal status of the Service Complaints Ombudsman’s findings. As such, we do not consider that it is necessary to make specific provision for this in the Bill. That is, again, in common with other ombudsman legislation.

While we accept the importance of the point being raised, and agree with it in substance, it is considered unnecessary to make specific provision for it in the Bill. The amendment is resisted for that reason.

Turning to Amendments 15 and 16, it may be helpful if I explain in more detail the role of the Defence Council when considering and responding to the recommendations of the ombudsman. The first, as I explained in my closing speech at Second Reading, argues that the recommendations will clearly have some legal effect. The Defence Council will not be free simply to reject the recommendations because it disagrees with them. It would need to have very good, cogent, written reasons to do so, such as where the implementation of the recommendations in full was simply unworkable or where significant resource implications may be involved. It is right that the Defence Council should be able to reach a final decision on matters covered in any recommendations made by the ombudsman.

Given that starting point, the focus of the Defence Council in most cases where the ombudsman has made recommendations will be to decide precisely how it will respond. That may be simply a matter of implementing the recommendations by, for example, making an appropriate apology to the complainant. It may be that the person or persons who made the final decision in the internal process will be asked to reconsider a particular piece of evidence to see whether that would have affected the outcome of their decision. There may be some cases in which the failings identified by the ombudsman are such that a full reconsideration at the final stage of the complaint process is required. That may involve the appointment of a new person or panel of persons to hear the complaint again or, for example, to hold an oral hearing to test some crucial evidence.

This is all provided for in new Section 340M. The Defence Council will not need to modify the recommendation open to it. It would simply decide to reconsider the complaint in a way that suitably responded to the recommendations after careful consideration. I hope these points I have made answer the questions of my noble friend. As such, the amendments are unnecessary, and I ask my noble friend to withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Thomas of Gresford]

My Lords, again I am very grateful to the Minister for making clear that which I believe to be the case, and I am happy to withdraw my amendment and not to move the other two.

Amendment 14 withdrawn.