Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's Zero Tolerance policy published on 30 March 2022, whether the policy of ensuring that those found guilty of sexual offences will be administratively discharged from service with no option to serve elsewhere will apply to historic charges of sexual offence.

The policy is not intended to apply retrospectively, in keeping with the general principle that policy changes are not made retrospective to ensure fairness and the integrity of decisions made under previous policies. In relation to historic cases, those individuals will have been considered for Administrative Action (including discharge) in line with the policy in place in the relevant Service at the time.