Bullying complaints must be heard, MoD warned

The Ministry of Defence must ensure that military personnel feel able to complain about issues such as bullying, a committee of MPs has warned.

There is a discrepancy between the between the level of bullying and harassment suggested by surveys carried out across the armed forces and the few cases that reach the top, a report also warned.

The Armed Forces Bill committee concluded that the MoD and the armed forces need to make sure this discrepancy is not due to an ineffective complaints system lower down the chain.

"It is clear that there is a need for robust and timely redress of complaints within the armed forces," the MPs concluded.

And the complaints system should cover a range of circumstances, from trivial matters through to the most serious abuses of bullying and harassment, the report says.

MPs on the committee have been considering changes to military legislation which are made every five years.

The legislation is set to establish a single tri-service system of military law.

The Armed Forces Bill will also bring in a unified court martial system, and establish a joint service prosecuting authority.

A modernised grievance procedure is included in the Bill, as will a modernised system of service statutory inquiries.

And provisions to continue the application of service law to civilians accompanying the armed forces overseas are also included.

As part of its consideration of the new legislation, the committee welcomed the establishment of the service complaint panel as a mechanism to consider complaints at the highest level.

"The changes proposed in the Bill will allow complaints to reach this level more swiftly and will provide the service complaint panel with the power to grant redress as it sees fit," the report says.

"The addition of an independent voice in appropriate circumstances is also welcome."

But it stressed that moves to improve the accessibility of the complaint procedures have not proved sufficient.

"Nevertheless, we believe there is scope to deal with grievances more effectively, particularly those involving cases of alleged bullying," said the study.

"In our view, the overriding need is to draw a clear distinction between the proper exercise of discipline in a military context and incidents which cross over the line into abuse or bullying."

However it warns that in the aftermath of the Deepcut events "we would not want proposals to be introduced hastily".

It has been suggested that bullying at the Deepcut barracks led four soldiers to take their own lives.

The MPs acknowledged that the government is considering the recommendations made in Nicholas Blake's review of events and will amend the Bill where necessary.

"It is unfortunate that we were unable to take more account of his conclusions in the course of our deliberations," the MPs add.