19 May 23. Defence Committee to publish report on cultural defence diplomacy. The Defence Committee will publish a report on cultural defence diplomacy at 00.01 on Tuesday 23 May. Embargoed copies will be available the day before on Monday 22 May. If you are in receipt of this email, you will automatically receive embargoed copies.
18 May 23. Damning whistle-blower evidence reveals ongoing sexual abuse within the Armed Services. Today the Defence Committee publishes whistle-blower evidence from a team delivering clinical and occupational health care and advice to Service personnel and their Commands, from across the three Armed Services. Both the team and the cases included in the evidence have been anonymised. This new evidence provides ten case studies and has been received by the Committee following its inquiry into Women in the Armed Forces. The cases include examples of alleged sexual assault and rape against Servicewomen. This press release includes extracts from three of the ten case studies.
The evidence has been published in full today on the Defence Committee website.
The evidence aims to “provide the Committee with an indication of both the nature and impact of sexual abuse that continues to be perpetrated against women in our armed forces.” It concludes that “a significant proportion of Servicewomen experience unwanted sexual behaviour in Service” and “many are reluctant to report or seek help.”
Case Study A:
- A “junior Servicewoman” reports being “raped on base by someone with whom she’d been in a casual relationship”
- The evidence states that a “GP advised her to ‘choose her partners more carefully in future’”
- She reports that she was “persuaded by another GP to report the incident”
- “However… it was deemed by the Chain of Command, in consultation with the GP who’d persuaded her to come forward, too important for the career of the rapist and the elite Unit he served in”
- She says she “was moved across country, out of that elite Unit, against her will” and then “medically discharged from the Service, again against her will”
Case Study B:
- The evidence reports that “a Servicewoman was groped, forcibly kissed, and exposed by a male colleague at a Unit Christmas party.”
- She “eventually decided to report the incident to her Chain of Command”
- “When she did so, her Chain of Command explained to her that it was Christmas, and a party, so ‘she should understand that things get a little out of hand’ and nothing was meant by it.”
- “It was further suggested to her that she too has been drunk and raucous at work social events, so should understand.”
Case Study C:
- “A young Servicewoman in training awoke in her room on base to find a male member of training staff smelling her underwear”, the evidence states. “Previously, she’d woken up to find him watching her sleeping”.
- “She describes on another occasion him holding her against a wall and telling her that her real reason to join the Service was to ‘get the leg over as much as possible’”
- The evidence states that “when she finally reported him to the senior training lead” she was “advised that her training would be cut short”
- “She was then told that her case was too weak and the investigation would take time and resources not available in the Unit whilst in training.”
Chair of the Defence Sub-Committee on Women in the Armed Forces, Sarah Atherton MP, said: “The cases outlined in this evidence are heartrending and demonstrate serious failings within the military justice system and Chain of Command. Sexual assault and rape are heinous crimes. As this document shows, when these crimes take place in the Armed Forces, Servicewomen often feel they have no option but to ‘put up and shut up’. They are often made to feel as though they must choose between justice and their career, while perpetrators of abuse seem to be protected. It’s been nearly two years since the publication of the Defence Committee’s report ‘Women in the Armed Forces: Protecting those who protect us’. The Ministry of Defence’s response at the time was largely positive and demonstrated a willingness to affect change. However, this damning evidence shows that serious problems persist. It reinforces our view that the complaints system is not functioning as it should be, and that criminal cases of sexual assault and rape must be removed from the Service Justice System and handed over to civilian courts. The evidence also speaks to a wider culture of institutional misogyny: looking the other way and discouraging victims from coming forward, with senior personnel hiding behind the excuse of ‘boys will be boys’. If we are to tackle these issues at a fundamental cultural level, there needs to be a considered and strategic response led by respected figures within the military. It takes a lot of thought and courage to speak out in these circumstances. I would like to thank the witnesses and all those who agreed to allow their stories to be told.”
15 May 23. Defence Equipment & Support Sub-Committee holds first session. On Wednesday 17 May, at 09.30, the Defence Sub-Committee on Defence Equipment & Support held its first evidence session. In this session the Sub-Committee will hear from defence experts, including Sir Bernard Gray, former Chief of Defence Materiel and author of Defence Reform. The session explored the challenges of defence acquisition, asking what the UK can do to improve its approach to procurement. The session will likely cover topics such as purchasing capabilities rapidly and whether lessons have been learned from Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine. The Sub-Committee explored international comparators and ask what best practice looks like.
09.30, Wednesday 17 May 2023:
- Lucia Retter – Research lead at RAND Europe
- Professor John Louth – Independent author and defence analyst
- Professor Matt Uttley – Chair in Defence Studies at King’s College London
10.30:
- Sir Bernard Gray – former Chief of Defence Materiel and author of Defence Reform
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Ministry of Defence: Artificial Intelligence
Question for Ministry of Defence
Dave Doogan
Scottish National Party
Angus
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department uses automated decision making in relation to personnel.
Answer
Dr Andrew Murrison
Conservative
South West Wiltshire
Commons
Answered on: 17 May 2023
While increasing use is being made of automation to support decision-making across the single Service workforce management domains, there are no automated systems currently in service, nor any in development, that will make decisions independently of human intervention. Automated support is streamlining many of the labour-intensive processes which historically have denuded the capacity of single Service workforce planners and managers to focus on resolving people issues as they arise. For example, recruitment processes may use some automation to inform applicants if they are ineligible for a particular role due to their age or nationality, but the system does provide contact details that can be used to discuss potential eligibility for alternative roles.
When recruiting into the Civil Service we may assess candidates using a psychometric test. Tests are taken online, and the test score is calculated from the individual’s responses, which are compared with the results of a peer group who took the same test, creating a percentile. Individuals need to reach the pass mark for the test to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment.
Ministry of Defence: Artificial Intelligence
Question for Ministry of Defence
Dave Doogan
Scottish National Party
Angus
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department uses automated decision making in relation to procurement.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 17 May 2023
The Ministry of Defence does not use automated decision making in relation to procurement.
Defence: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
John Healey
Labour
Wentworth and Dearne
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the annual SME spend in (a) monetary value and (b) proportionate contractual value for the individual 19 prime contractors.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 17 May 2023
The results of the annual SME survey are published by the Cabinet Office (Central Government spend with SMEs – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) for all Government Departments. Results of the 2021-22 survey are expected to be released by the end of May. Due to commercial sensitivities, the results will be aggregated as a total spend amount and percentage of Ministry of Defence procurement spend, and not attributable to individual contractors.
Ukraine: Military Aid
Question for Ministry of Defence
Robert Courts
Conservative
Witney
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the air mobility fleet has been engaged in the movement of equipment and supplies to Ukraine since 1 December 2022.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 16 May 2023
We are one of the leading providers of military support for Ukraine and were the first country to donate modern main battle tanks and long-range precision strike missiles. In addition, we have provided millions of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of armoured and protected mobility vehicles and other equipment.
Across hundreds of flights delivering this support in the last year, the entire Air Mobility Force has been engaged in the movement of equipment, supplies and trained Ukrainian recruits.
A400M Aircraft
Question for Ministry of Defence
Robert Courts
Conservative
Witney
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the task line availability offered by C130J will be replaced by A400M on a one-for-one basis by 30 June 2023.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 16 May 2023
Whilst the Hercules C-130J fleet will continue to drawdown, a number of the aircraft have sufficient remaining flying hours to enable an extended drawdown to 30 June 2023, maximising use of the fleet.
Atlas availability is being actively managed. There has been a steady improvement in aircraft availability and fleet resilience. Following direct intervention and a determined improvement campaign, the daily aircraft availability is approximately 25% greater compared to 18-months ago. A number of Atlas airframes will complete upgrade before the summer, adding to the available fleet.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Question for Ministry of Defence
Mr Kevan Jones
Labour
North Durham
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183243 on Royal Fleet Auxiliary, (a) for how long and (b) for what reason (i) two RFA Wave Class Tankers and (ii) one RFA Tide Class Tanker was not available as of 3 May 2023.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 15 May 2023
The Tide Class Tanker is undergoing routine statutory maintenance and will return to service later this year. RFA WAVE RULER and RFA WAVE KNIGHT were placed in extended readiness in 2017 and 2022 respectively and are expected to remain so until further notice.