22 Oct 15. Defence Committee. Second Oral Evidence Session:
Flexible Response? An SDSR Checklist Of Potential Threats
Tuesday 27 October 2015
Committee Room 8, Main Committee Corridor, House of Commons
Witnesses:
At 11.30am
• General Sir Nicholas Houghton, Chief of the Defence Staff
• General Sir Richard Barrons, Commander of Joint Forces Command
• Campbell McCafferty, Director of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office.
This is the second session for this inquiry. Discussion will concentrate on the current threat picture and what potential threats may arise during the period of the 2015 SDSR. The purpose of the session is to understand the Government’s methodology for the analysis of threats and it’s capability to respond to unexpected security challenges.
19 Oct 15. Defence Sub-Committee – New Inquiry: Beyond Endurance? Military Exercises And The Duty Of Care. The Sub-Committee of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee announced a new inquiry into the duty of care of Service personnel during military training. 125 Service personnel died between 1 January 2000 and 18 July 2015 whilst on training or exercises. The inquiry will not investigate individual cases. It will examine the overarching policies, practices and guidance of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Armed Forces in respect of the health and safety of Service personnel during training, exercises and selection events and whether effective processes exist for capturing lessons from accidents and deaths that have occurred during such events.
The questions the Sub-Committee is particularly interested in examining are:
• Whether the 125 Armed Forces deaths whilst on training or exercises between 1 January 2000 and 18 July 2015 indicate any systemic failings in the policies and practices of the MoD and the Armed Forces?
• The adequacy of health and safety and risk assessment processes, and the quality of training and available guidance in these processes, within the MoD and Armed Forces, and what changes might be required.
• How will the MoD and the Armed Forces balance potential risks in training, exercises and selection events with the need to maintain operational preparedness and effectiveness?
• Do the Armed Forces have consistent standards of supervision, responsibility and accountability for both individual and collective training of Regulars, Reserves and Special Forces?
• The provision of medical services during training, exercises and selection events.
• What checks are in place to manage the risk of Service personnel pushing themselves too hard?
• Whether the MoD and Armed Forces have effective processes for capturing lessons from accidents and deaths during training, exercises and selection events?
• How the MoD and the Armed Forces implement Coroner’s recommendations following the deaths of Service Personnel during training, exercises and selection events, monitor progress and measure the effectiveness of their implementation?
• What are the implications for future selection events for recruitment to the Special Forces?
• Are changes required in the preparation of Regulars and Reserve personnel for training, exercises and selection events?
The Sub-Committee will not make any media statements until its final report is published. Written submissions for this inquiry should be submitted via the inquiry page on the Defence Sub-Committee website.
The deadline for written submissions is Wednesday 4 November 2015. Submissions should state clearly who the submission is from e.g. ‘Written evidence submitted by xxxx’ and be no longer than 3000 words, please contact the Committee staff if you wish to discuss this.
Submissions must be a self-contained memorandum in Word or Rich Text Format (not PDFs). Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference and the document should, if possible, include an executive summary.
Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your