Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve response times within the Service Complaints Ombudsman.

The office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces currently has around 140 unallocated applications for investigation for matters of Maladministration and Substance (the oldest case dates back to January 2018). Applications relating to the review of an admissibility decision and undue delay investigations are being considered within target timescales.

The Ombudsman has been open and transparent about the backlog of casework and is doing everything possible to reduce it. Most notably, work is ongoing to recruit staff to fill investigator vacancies. Further work is being undertaken to determine the correct level of resource required to not only reduce the backlog but to establish an organisation that can sustain future demand. As well as an external review of processes, to identify where efficiencies may be introduced, a peer review is planned by representatives from external Ombudsman organisations in order to benefit from their experiences.

The Ombudsman has made it clear that the quality of investigations undertaken by her office must not suffer as a result of initiatives to reduce the backlog. Applicants are being updated regularly on their case and kept informed of likely timescales.