Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of discrimination on trends in the level of people from ethnic minorities in the armed forces.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to preventing all forms of discrimination and is very clear that unacceptable behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated and action will be taken against anyone found to be engaging in such behaviour. All personnel have the right to work in an environment which is free from discrimination and unacceptable behaviour of any form. Personnel should be confident that any allegations will be taken very seriously, and action will be taken to deal with it. The Defence Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, published in October 2018, is based on achieving a vision that reflects our recognition that the recruitment, and retention of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to Defence and wider society. The Strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy-2018-to-2030-a-force-for-inclusion

The MOD has no single formal mechanism to measure the effect of discrimination, however the Armed Forces have developed multiple methods of understanding the lived experience of our people, including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) personnel, through a climate assessment regime. This approach includes BAME focus groups and regular engagement with our BAME employee networks. This provides the MOD with a vital feedback loop which informs behaviours and discipline training and policy.

Representation of people from BAME backgrounds in the Armed Forces continues to rise. The MOD publishes Biannual Diversity Statistics (available at the link below) which present information relating to the gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion and age of Service personnel.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2018