Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce incidences of bullying, harassment and discrimination in his Department.

Unacceptable behaviour, which includes bullying, harassment and discrimination, is not tolerated in Defence. Those who fail to meet our values and standards will be dealt with appropriately, which includes the use of administrative, disciplinary or misconduct action.

Defence has a wide programme of work ongoing to prevent and tackle unacceptable behaviour. This includes implementing the recommendations of the Wigston and Gray Reviews, and those made by the House of Commons Defence Committee in their Women in the Armed Forces report.

Our behaviour and complaints policies were updated in June 2021 with a strong focus on prevention. We have introduced mandatory climate assessments across Defence; these are a tool to help leaders understand the local culture and identify areas for improvement. Access to Diversity and Inclusion Advisers has been widened to support people affected by unacceptable behaviour and resolve issues at the lowest level. We have also established a bullying, harassment and discrimination helpline staffed independently with trained professionals. And we have mandated active bystander training to equip people with the skills to intervene should they witness incidents. We continue to update our training and communications approach to drive improvements in our culture and behaviour.