Armed Forces: Pastoral Care

(asked on 29th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, (1) how levels of satisfaction with the armed forces’ pastoral support services are measured, (2) whether they will publish the results, and (3) whether armed forces personnel are asked if they wish to receive non-religious pastoral care.


Answered by
Baroness Goldie Portrait
Baroness Goldie
Shadow Minister (Defence)
This question was answered on 13th July 2022

Military Chaplains are professionally qualified to provide pastoral care to everyone, regardless of philosophy or faith background. Service personnel who do not wish to talk to a Chaplain are encouraged to seek 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 welfare staff. Mutual support is also available via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.

The publicly available annual Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey shows that, of those who have used chaplaincy support provided by their Service, satisfaction with the service has ranged between 61% and 65%. Dissatisfaction levels have been consistently low, recorded at either 4% or 5%, with the remaining 30% to 35% of respondents having a neutral stance on the service.

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