Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of the (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation sponsored by (i) their Department or (ii) their predecessor Department has undergone a post legislative review in each of the last 10 years.

There is an Armed Forces Bill every five years to renew the Armed Forces Act 2006. The provisions of the 2006 Act were therefore subject to review as part of the work to prepare for the Armed Forces Acts of 2011, 2016 and 2021.

The Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Act 2015 and the Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Act 2018 amended the Armed Forces Act 2006. The 2015 and 2018 Acts were therefore also subject to review as part of the work to prepare for the Armed Forces Act 2021.

The Defence Reform Act 2014 completed its first statutory review in 2017. A second statutory review will conclude with a Command Paper due to be published later this year.

Secondary legislation is kept under review as part of day to day management to ensure it remains up to date with changes in policy or legislation.