A Care Quality Commission review of the Defence Medical Services (DMS) has found high standards of medical care for frontline service personnel, with some concerns about aspects of non-frontline care.
Following the Scottish Independence Referendum a number of video clips have been circulated which some believe to show vote-rigging during the official indyref count. People have been signing online petitions calling for investigation, for a recount, or even for the whole referendum to be re-run. UPDATE: We do not know to what extent some of the "misunderstandings" were propagated by Russian or Iranian bots or were even home-grown, but they were never supported by the official pro-independence campaigns.
The British Armed Forces Federation plan for the Scottish Independence Referendum was first published here for comment on 6 June 2012. All comments received from members were taken into account and some changes and additions made. The draft was approved by the BAFF Executive Council and thereafter endorsed by the 2013 AGM.
Investigations into the deaths of Scottish military personnel killed abroad will be able to take place in Scotland for the first time from later this month.
Up until now inquests into the deaths of servicemen and women have often had to be heard in England, forcing their bereaved families to travel long distances to take part in the hearings.
With the approach of the nation's annual period of Remembrance, allegations are again doing the rounds on social networking sites that the Royal British Legion is not selling poppies in certain areas "because it would offend minorities".
An online petition invites the public to support a proposal for the dropping of poppy petals from an aircraft over London on Armistice Day.
Following the recent Government reshuffle the Prime Minister's Office has announced changes to the ministerial team at the Ministry of Defence.
Armed forces commanders and veterans' organisations have welcomed a coordinated approach by the Scottish Government to ensure the wellbeing of Scotland's service personnel and veterans.
The new Armed Forces Commitments Paper sets out what the Scottish Government is doing to address the health, housing, education and justice needs of current and former service men and women.
BAFF spokespeople Weale and Young gave a number of interviews on 9 August in reaction to the reported retention of a relatively small number of tissue samples and body parts under the responsibility of the Special Investigation Branch (SIB), without the required liaison with the relevant next of kin. Mail: MoD secretly kept body parts of troops killed in Afghanistan from grieving families. Update:
The MoD has released more details of the new service pension scheme which will operate from April 2015. The Ministry says that the scheme was designed after extensive consultation with over 17,500 personnel, and that there will now be a further period of consultation for personnel to make comments before the new scheme design is finalised.
Several members have been in touch with BAFF about the case of ex-Lance Corporal Bale Baleiwai, who after serving honourably in the British Army for 13 years, and despite having a British family, was given three weeks to leave the country. The original deadline expired on 9 August. Please sign the petition on his behalf.
Update: Mr Baleiwai has now been given leave to appeal against the Army summary disciplinary finding upon which the UK Border Agency based its decision to refuse him settlement in the UK. The date for the appeal was to be announced later.
The House of Commons Defence Committee has announced a short inquiry into the work of the Service Complaints Commissioner. Before taking evidence in the Autumn from the Service Complaints Commissioner, Dr Susan Atkins, the Committee has invited written submissions from interested individuals and organisations, which must be submitted by Friday 7 September 2012. UPDATE: Written evidence was duly submitted on BAFF's behalf, and will be published in due course.
Lord Coe, the chairman of the London 2012 Olympic organising committee (Locog), said today that he "could not rule out" asking for the current deployment of 17,000 to be increased. According to the Daily Telegraph, the MoD (unsurprisingly) has contingency plans for additional deployment. Senior military officers told the newspaper this week that they expect "up to 20,000" service personnel to be involved in the Olympic operation.
G4S, the private security firm which has an estimated £284 million contract for the provision of guards for the Olympic Games [2012], says in a statement tonight that it is "grateful for the additional military support involving at least 3,500 armed forces personnel". It adds that "We do not underestimate the impact on the military personnel and their families and express our appreciation to them."
Across BFG the countdown to drawdown has left soldiers and families facing an uncertain future, as the issue of rebasing is considered by the Ministry of Defence.
Personnel living in Germany are being urged to exercise caution when taking out loans with German based agents.
With the Army 2020 announcement now likely to be made in Parliament this week, what line has BAFF been taking? The BAFF Chairman has given interviews on the subject in recent weeks. He has provided this summary of what he has been saying so far:
Personnel who wish to appeal have 30 calendar days (not working days) from the date of their notification letter to submit a written appeal through the appropriate channels. BAFF understands that:
The long-overdue memorial to the young men of the wartime Bomber Command will be dedicated and unveiled in the heart of London at midday on Thursday, 28th June, 2012.
BAFF members on and off parade enjoyed a historic Queen's Birthday Parade in Her Majesty's 60th Jubilee Year.
The speeches to the RUSI Land Warfare Conference by the Secretary of State, CGS, and the Army 2020 Team Leader, along with the slides from Gen Carter's presentation, are now available to logged-in users following this link:
Two and a half years ahead of the Scottish constitutional referendum which is expected to be held in the autumn of 2014, the British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) is already working on the implications for service personnel.
The membership of the British Armed Forces Federation is drawn from personnel from all three services from across the United Kingdom, as well as those from elsewhere in the Commonwealth. (No referendum vote for citizens of overseas Commonwealth countries, except Malta and Cyprus.)
The Coalition Government introduced a new Electoral and Administration Bill in the House of Commons in May 2012. The Bill provides for the introduction of individual electoral registration in Great Britain, and a number of changes relating to electoral administration and the conduct of elections.
As we see it, the main benefit to service voters is that the timetable for UK parliamentary elections would be extended from 17 to 25 days.
BAFF was represented at the Presidium meeting of the European Organisation of Military Associations - EUROMIL - held at Limerick, Ireland on 27-28 April, 2012.
The two-person BAFF delegation included the Federation's Chairman, Douglas Young. He renewed acquaintance with colleagues from (amongst other countries) Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Montenegro, the Netherlands and Spain, as well as EUROMIL Board members and staff from the small EUROMIL headquarters in Brussels.
The Scottish Government's consultation on arrangements for the independence referendum closes 11 May 2012. Anyone can take part. You can complete the consultation online and you can even take part anonymously, although we do not recommend this.
The separate consultation by the UK Government's Scotland Office has already taken place. BAFF took part in that consultation, and our views were quoted in the UK Government's published summary of the consultation results.
Given that beyond question there are service personnel on both sides of the referendum debate, our focus as with previous elections is to encourage eligible members of the armed forces community to make sure they are properly registered, and then make their own voting choice with confidence that their votes will count.
More than 8000 personnel from Commonwealth countries (other than the UK) serve in the Royal Navy, Brish Army and Royal Air Force.
Among them are 2,200 Fijians who make up one of the largest groups of Commonwealth service men and women to serve in Her Majesty's British Armed Forces.
Ex-servicemen who had been exposed to radiation in British nuclear weapons tests have lost their Supreme Court bid to launch negligence claims against the Ministry of Defence. BBC News reports that:
As we predicted a few days ago, the Armed Forces Pay Review Body's 2012 report has now been published. The Government has accepted its recommendations on armed forces pay and charges for 2012-2013.
The report has been published on the Office of Manpower Economics' website but, as members have reported difficulty in opening the document, we are meantime making a copy available to logged-in registered users here:
The British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) has responded to the UK Government Scotland Office consultation on arrangements for a referendum on Scotland's constitutional future. The Federation is also responding to the separate consultation by the Scottish Government.
UPDATE: Following the publication of the results of the UK Government's consultation, the BAFF response to that consultation is now available at the link below without the need to log in. The UK's Government's summary includes a quote from the BAFF submission.
The Ministry of Defence has denied the report in today's Times that married soldiers living in Army accommodation will be forced out of their homes under "cost-cutting proposals" being considered by the MOD, as part of the New Employment Model (NEM). The Ministry does not, however, appear to deny that reducing the entitlement to service housing is one of the "range of options" under consideration.
The Labour Party has launched a Shadow Defence Review. BritishForcesNews reports (22 Feb) that: