Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his letter of 15 January 2019 in relation to Question 196768, what steps he is taking to ensure the number of full-time investigation officer posts in the office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman's are fully staffed; and if he will make a statement.

The Service Complaints Ombudsman is provided with an annual budget from defence funds which, under the financial delegation given to her, is used to meet all the costs associated with her independent function.

The Ombudsman's office is staffed by Civil Servants and all job advertisements are posted on the Civil Service Jobs website at the earliest opportunity. On occasions, it has not been possible to attract sufficiently qualified applicants from within the Civil Service with the necessary skills for investigation officer posts. This has led to jobs being advertised externally, a process which takes significantly longer as it requires necessary security vetting.

All posts are subject to the usual churn of staff, some of whom will seek opportunities elsewhere following a two or three-year term. It is, therefore, not surprising that with the establishment of the SCO office in 2015, a number of staff left the Ombudsman's office in the latter part of 2017. Around that time, an internal restructuring was also undertaken which has taken time to bed in.

The number of filled investigation officer posts has now increased to ten, with recruitment ongoing for the remaining post plus another that is due to become vacant in April 2019. I am also aware that the Ombudsman is reviewing her staffing requirements. A review of the office's case handling processes, without detriment to quality, will, I understand, form the basis for this.

To date, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has responded positively to any requests for additional staff from the Ombudsman, including throughout the period when recruitment in the MOD was subject to severe restrictions, and we will of course be happy to fully consider any further requests.

It will take time to collate the detailed information requested on the average length of investigations, recruitment to full-time investigator posts and sick leave. I will write to the hon. Member in due course.