Today the Government has announced some new initiatives to tackle unacceptable behaviours in the military. Changes include ‘a new specialist Tri-Service team for taking the most serious complaints, such as bullying, discrimination and harassment, outside the single Service chain of command.’
The proposal that the most serious Service Complaints – ones raising issues of sexual harassment, racism and other serious behaviours that make so many service personnel’s lives miserable – should be taken away from the single Services themselves has been around since the Wigston Review in 2019, was endorsed by the Defence Committee following its inquiry into the experiences of women in the armed forces in 2021, and was most recently taken up by the family of the late Gunner Jaysley Beck who died after suffering relentless sexual harassment in the Army. Jaysley’s family believe that had there been an independent complaints body to whom she could have complained about the conduct of her possessive and obsessive line manager, it might have made a difference to her state of mind and she might still be alive. Certainly, they have argued, given what we know about the general level of distrust and the lack of faith in the services’ complaints system, whereby almost 90% of service people that experience bullying, harassment or discrimination do not complain about it, a new approach is worth a try.
We have very little detail so far. What is proposed is that a new Service Complaints team will be created ‘that will be independent of the single Service chain of command to provide individuals with greater confidence and help ensure that the most serious complaints are dealt with quickly, fairly and in a standardised way across the Armed Forces. The change will see Bullying, Harassment, Discrimination related service complaints dealt with by a team outside the commands of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.’
On the face of it, this appears to be a very significant achievement for the Beck family. As recently as 17th February, at Jaysley’s inquest, the Army’s stubborn position was that there would be no substantial changes at all made to the system for handling serious complaints of sexual harassment and other nasty forms of discrimination. Something seems to have shifted. After the inquest, the family spoke publicly, repeatedly and very powerfully about the vital difference they think a more independent scheme might have made to their daughter and they wrote to the Chief of the General Staff about it on 25th February, setting out their request in more detail.
Today, the Government appears to have heard them.
Clearly, we need a lot more detail. How far removed from the single Services will the new complaints processes really be? Will the same complaints staff just be reassigned to handle them? What new training will they have? Will they be willing to use genuinely independent expert advisers when they need to? Would it not just be more sensible for the new Armed Forces Commissioner to perform this function? That would lend even greater independence to the scheme. The fact that this option has not been taken up is a considerable concern and one wonders what internal pressures have been brought to bear on Ministers that such an obvious solution has not been taken up.
But for today, it is important to recognise that this is a very significant step in the right direction. A key demand of the Beck family – that responsibility for the handling of the most serious complaints must be taken away from the single Services themselves – appears, finally, after years of campaigning, to have been accepted in principle. Let’s hope the new scheme delivers the change that our service people deserve.
Emma Norton, Centre for Military Justice
Leighann McCready, for Jaysley’s family said:
“Today’s announcement is an important step towards change. For far too long, serious complaints of bullying, harassment, and discrimination have been handled inside the single Services, leaving service personnel without a safe or trusted route to seek help. The introduction of a specialist team outside the single Services to deal with the most serious complaints is a move in the right direction.
While we welcome this progress, we know there is still more to be done. The details of how this will work in practice are critical. It’s not just about removing cases from the chain of command and single Services, it’s about ensuring that those handling them are truly independent, properly trained, and committed to real accountability. Trust in the system is already low, and without genuine transparency and oversight, nothing will change.
Our daughter, Jaysley, suffered relentless sexual harassment while serving in the Army. If a system like this had existed, if she had somewhere truly independent to turn to, maybe she would still be here. We can never know for sure, but what we do know is that no other family should have to suffer this kind of loss.
If today’s changes prevent just one more tragedy, then we are moving in the right direction. But we will continue to push for a system that fully protects those who serve and ensures that no one is left feeling unheard, unsupported, or alone.”