Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recommendations from the Atherton Report have been fully implemented to date.

Of the House of Commons Defence Committee's report ‘Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life’, Defence has accepted 33 recommendations, partially accepted a further four recommendations and noted 13 points which were conclusions rather than recommendations. Three of the Committee’s recommendations were not implemented; these related to timelines for Service Complaints appeals and civilian jurisdiction.

All the actions Defence committed to have been delivered and are being evaluated. Most recently in November, Defence published the results of the first tri-Service survey to fully understand the experiences of personnel and perceptions of sexualised behaviours, including harassment, in the Armed Forces. Work continues to improve Service life for women in the Armed Forces beyond the Atherton Report. New initiatives are being developed to better prepare female Service personnel for arduous training roles as well as bringing a gender perspective to the future development of existing equipment and uniform. We also continue to drive for continuous improvement in addressing unacceptable behaviours, including an ongoing review of our Zero Tolerance policies and establishing a new Tri-Service Unit for handling of serious complaints independent of the military chain of command.