MoD: Bullying, harassment and other complaints in Royal Navy, Army and RAF rise for third consecutive year

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Bullying, harassment and other complaints are soaring with “unacceptable” cases of sexual misconduct being brought to light in the armed forces.

Mariette Hughes, Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces, said female personnel and those of ethnic minorities are particularly affected and more likely to issue grievances across the Royal Navy, Army and RAF. Top areas of complaints also include career management and conditions of service.

Members of the Defence Select Committee questioned Ms Hughes about how to tackle the problem during a parliamentary session this morning (January 14).

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“There are slight fluctuations between the service, but we are looking at a 30 per cent increase again this year,” Ms Hughes told politicians. “That means that over the course of the past three years, the number of complaints admitted by the service has more than doubled.”

When asked by Labour MP Michelle Scrogham why this is the case, Ms Hughes said it was due to a combination of factors including the complaints system being more accessible and visible via an app and other online systems.

Mariette Hughes, Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces, confirmed that the number of complaints within Royal Navy, Army and RAF.Mariette Hughes, Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces, confirmed that the number of complaints within Royal Navy, Army and RAF.
Mariette Hughes, Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces, confirmed that the number of complaints within Royal Navy, Army and RAF. | Parliament

“The services won’t thank me saying it, but I welcome the increase in the number of complaints,” she said. “We know that not enough people complain, so I would like to see that number continually going up.”

She later added: “There is nothing I’ve seen in my time in the role that indicates that behaviours are getting materially worse, it is that people are more comfortable to complain.”

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The ombudsman said a full dataset will be shown in the 2024 Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces annual report. The recommendations in the previous year’s report are still be worked on, with the system still not being efficient, effective or fair. Career management - which covers annual appraisals, appointment postings and promotion board outcomes - made up 35 per cent of the complaints raised in 2023.

A further 21 per cent involved bullying, harassment and discrimination - which Ms Hughes said included “unacceptable” serious sexual misconduct cases and direct discrimination. The last report showed that 74 per cent of service complaints were completed within 24 weeks, with a target of 95 per cent. “Bullying, harassment and discrimination complaints take too long,” Ms Hughes said.

Michelle Scrogham, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, asked what factors are causing the number of complaints in the armed forces to go up.Michelle Scrogham, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, asked what factors are causing the number of complaints in the armed forces to go up.
Michelle Scrogham, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, asked what factors are causing the number of complaints in the armed forces to go up. | Parliament

“A lot of these cases come down to individual recollections of cases. As the timeline extends and the memories degrade, it becomes harder to get the actual answers to what’s happened. A lot of the reasons people leave service is that if they don’t get the correct answer for their service complaint because it has not been dealt with properly or swiftly enough, it leaves that lingering bad taste in the mouth. The Navy has particular challenges when individuals are away and at sea, in bringing them back to speak about complaints.”

Grievances from female service personnel made up 20 per cent of complaints in 2023, but only 12 per cent of the armed forces are women. Mike Martin, Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, asked why women are disproportionally affected. Ms Hughes said one of the recommendations in the 2023 report was for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to conduct a study to determine the root causes of why women and ethnic minorities are over-represented in the complaints procedures.

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“It’s certainly not the case that women are better at complaining or more confident in coming forward, as has been said to me in a few meeting rooms,” Ms Hughes said. “You can imagine how I responded to that. There is something that is happening.”

Ms Hughes said some progress is being made to fulfil the recommendation, with the first batch of data being analysed from all the complaints raised by female personnel, but it has yet to be finalised.

Mike Martin, Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, questioned why more women are being targeted for bullying and harassment.Mike Martin, Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, questioned why more women are being targeted for bullying and harassment.
Mike Martin, Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, questioned why more women are being targeted for bullying and harassment. | Parliament

“It has been too slow,” she added. “We have been asking for that significant amount of time.” The ombudsman said there are not many complaints coming from home units - such as in the medical services - but more from other units where there is not a demographic split.

“It’s really hard to get behind that environment,” Ms Hughes added. “If somebody isn’t routinely working with women, seeing them everyday and it’s just a predominantly male environment, it’s not only hard to identify where you have issues but hard to eradicate them. By the time it has happened, it’s too late. My sense is about that unequal split. Individuals feel they are quite safe and content in their home units, but they are experiencing difficulties when they go out and interact with others..”

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Ms Hughes said more women in the armed forces, as well as rigorous screening of people joining the forces, would help solve the problem and ensure “we’re not bringing people in with that inherent bias or poor behaviour”. She added: “If people don’t get the outcomes they want (when issuing a complaint) they will vote with their feet. If people don’t feel that they can raise complaints and are being heard or represented, they will choose to stop serving.”

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