Approximate read time: 35 minutes
The Armed Forces Commissioner Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 23 January 2025. The bill’s second reading in the Lords is scheduled to take place on 5 March 2025.
The bill’s main provisions would establish an independent armed forces commissioner and provide them with powers to initiate investigations into general service welfare matters. It would also abolish the office of the service complaints ombudsman and transfer its functions and responsibilities to the newly established commissioner.
The government has said that over the last decade morale amongst armed forces personnel has hit record lows and that there has been a crisis in recruitment and retention. Recent reviews and inquiries have highlighted issues with various aspects of service life, including morale, pay and living conditions as well as the impact of cultural and behavioural issues. In addition, the current service complaints system has been subject to criticism. For example, in successive reports the service complaints ombudsman has not judged the complaints system to have met the standards of being efficient, effective and fair.
The government has argued that the creation of the new commissioner role would help to address these issues by ensuring the needs of personnel are represented by “a strong [and] independent voice”. The government has also said that the commissioner would have “the necessary powers to champion our armed forces”, arguing the remit of the current service complaints ombudsman is too narrow and does not allow for proactive investigations to take place.
The bill completed its passage through the House of Commons unamended. It received cross-party support. However, opposition amendments were tabled by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, none of which were successful. These focused on a variety of issues, including tax measures, scope of the role, relationships with veterans’ commissioners, independence of the role, definition of family members as well as the resourcing of the commissioner’s office, their reporting of findings and their appointment.
