Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 5, paragraph 11 of the Army Sexual Harassment report 2018, published by his Department in September 2018, what steps he is taking to improve satisfaction rates of the outcome of investigations.

The Army continues to build awareness of, and confidence in, the Service Complaints process through annual briefings and events to explain the process. This includes the message that we take all complaints seriously, that we encourage the Chain of Command to deal with them at lowest appropriate level and that we hold to account those who are found to be culpable. Personnel are also made aware of the role of the Service Complaints Ombudsman to review the handling of complaints if anyone is dissatisfied with the way it was investigated or its outcome.

The Army Misconduct Policy has been strengthened to make clear that obstructing a person who wishes to make either a formal or informal complaint of bullying, harassment or discrimination will be treated as very serious misconduct. This change is designed to ensure that there are concrete protections laid out in procedure for those who wish to make a complaint but believe they may be obstructed in doing so.