Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Provost Marshal for the Defence Serious Crime Unit has been established.

The Defence Serious Crime Unit (DSCU) will be formed by the merger of the single Service Special Investigation Branches. They will be led by the Provost Marshal Serious Crime, who was appointed in January 2022 and is leading the implementation of the DSCU through to full delivery.

The DSCU is not currently operational; its implementation will be conducted in two phases with a HQ function being stood up first by April 2022, followed by operational capability by December 2022. The DSCU Project and Implementation Team undertaking this work consists of a multi-disciplinary team of seven staff from the military and civil service. Working collaboratively with the single Services, they are focussed on progressing the DSCU to full delivery, this includes working with the single Services to understand the budget requirements of the DSCU moving forward, the enduring resource requirements and operational structures. A Victim and Witness Care Unit will be delivered as part of the DSCU full operating capability.