Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the review of the provision of non-religious pastoral support to the Armed Forces; and whether he plans to work with Humanists UK and the Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network to accredit humanist and non-religious chaplains to the Armed Forces.

Military Chaplains are professionally qualified to provide pastoral care to everyone, regardless of faith or belief background. However, should a Service person feel uncomfortable with talking to a Chaplain, they are able to seek appropriate professional support from a variety of alternative sources, which can be facilitated by the Chaplain. This includes their Chain of Command, through the Services' professional social workers, medical staff, and dedicated welfare staff. Mutual support is also available via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non-Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.

Having carefully considered whether this provision is adequate and suitably reflects the needs of all our people, we have recently conducted a review of this matter and consider the provision of pastoral care merits enhancement so that we can deliver even better support. Accordingly, we are intending to recruit a non-religious pastoral officer for each of the Armed Services, and are currently working with a range of stakeholders from the within the breadth of the AF community to determine how best to take this forward including how we engage with appropriate professional endorsing bodies.