Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that military veterans can report sexual abuse to their local police force in the first instance, regardless of where the alleged abuse occurred in the UK.

A military veteran may report an alleged sexual offence to either their local police force in the UK or the Defence Serious Crime Command. Where it is an offence that may be dealt with in either the civilian criminal or Service Justice Systems, decisions are made on a case-by-case basis as to whether a civilian police force or the Defence Serious Crime Command should investigate the matter, taking into account the views of the victim.