Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service inquiries have been conducted when a serious injury has occurred on training exercise or selection event between 2013-2019; and if he will make a statement.

In the period from 1 January 2013 to 31 August 2018 a total of 29 deaths among UK Armed Forces personnel occurred whilst on training or exercise. The Ministry of Defence publishes Official Statistics on this matter at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/training-and-exercise-deaths-in-the-uk-armed-forces-2018.

In the period from 1 January 2013 to 30 September 2018, 7,828 UK Armed Forces personnel were involved in 8,732 incidents resulting in serious injuries whilst on training or exercise. This figure includes both specified injuries and serious injuries (as defined by the Health & Safety Executive) and, both very serious injuries and serious injuries (as reported through the Notification of Casualties system).

In the period from 1 January 2013 to 24 January 2019, one Service Inquiry (SI) was convened solely for the purpose of investigating a serious injury occurring during a training exercise or selection event, where there were no fatalities. The circumstances resulting in a serious injury, without fatality, are unlikely to justify an SI. Where necessary, lessons may be learned without the need for an SI. JSP 832 (Guide to Service Inquiries) sets out the policy on when an SI should be convened. The current version of JSP 832 can be found at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/service-inquiry-si.

The Director General of the Defence Safety Authority (DG DSA) is the primary Convening Authority for all safety related SIs. All recommendations are allocated to a recommendation owner and are closed by DG DSA only when he is presented with sufficient evidence that all reasonable measures to implement the changes required have been taken.