Member

As we heard in much of our earlier discussions on Report, the new commissioner will face a significant number of issues. We should thank the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, for drawing our attention to the frankly shocking BBC report this morning of more reports of abuse of women within the Armed Forces. In Committee and in previous discussions, I set out some of my concerns, and concerns that have been shared with me, about some deeply shocking events, including events that are documented on video, at the Army Foundation College. But we are still likely to see that the vast majority of the volume of issues that the Armed Forces commissioner is likely to address will be concerned with people over the age of 18. Under-18s will be a relatively small part of the work of what we have all agreed will be a heavily loaded Armed Forces commissioner. Dealing with under-18 requires specialist skills, knowledge and approaches that are different from dealing with adults.