Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Service Complaints his Department received from armed forces personnel 15 to 18; and what the outcome was of those complaints.
The Service Complaints (SC) procedure exists to provide recourse to members of the Armed Forces (or those who are subject to Service Law) who are aggrieved due to the actions of either individuals, or the Service as a whole. SCs can cover a range of issues, from allowances and promotions to bullying and harassment. I can confirm that in the last calendar year (1 Jan 2019 - 31 Dec 2019), less than five SCs were received from Service Personnel aged 16 - 18. As 16 is the lowest age a person can join the UK Armed Forces, there were no SCs from those aged 15. Due to the figure being less than five (this has been rounded to comply with data protection), the outcomes cannot be given, to protect the identities of those concerned.