Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more service personnel to declare their sexual orientation.
Whilst noting that it is a personal choice, Armed Forces Personnel are encouraged to anonymously declare their sexual orientation on the Armed Forces HR system. A wide range of methods are utilised to encourage personnel to declare. These include communications campaigns, briefings from senior leaders, encouragement at staff college courses/conferences, involvement of the LGBT staff networks and as part of induction procedures for arrivals at a new unit. Personnel are assured of the confidentiality of the data and the benefits of recording it - to ensure policies are relevant, appropriate and informed.