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.

Interviewed on the BBC's Good Morning Wales programme about reported delays in processing claims under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), BAFF Chairman Douglas Young criticised the excuse that such delays were "partly down to the compensation culture". While we know that many claimants have managed their own claims successfully, Young queried why injured personnel should not be allowed to seek specialist advice and assistance from the Royal British Legion or others in complex cases. He commented in the interview that the excuse "made a nonsense of the Armed Forces Covenant".

More than four million official poll cards have been posted out to voters in Scotland this week. Poll cards give details of your polling place and the polling hours, 7am to 10pm. Keep your card for polling day on 18 September because although you do not need to have it with you on the day, it will save time if you take it to the polling station and show it to the staff there.

Your poll card also has details of how to vote. Your address should also have received the Electoral Commission's 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum Voting Guide; if not, click here for an online copy. Also available: DIN2013DIN01-242 Scottish Independence Referendum - Guidance for Service personnel wishing to vote. The Q&A from the DIN were widely published online - such as here on the RAF Community Support website.

An internal reminder has been issued recently to encourage all eligible personnel and their families to register to vote.

The Scottish National Party's devolved Scottish Government published on 26 November their White Paper entitled "Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland". The extract below sets out the intended position of current service personnel and veterans in the event of a 'Yes' vote in the September 2014 Referendum. It says that no Scottish service personnel would face compulsory redundancy during their contract period. The Scottish Government also intends to examine how the terms and conditions of service personnel could be improved, for example through the official representation of service personnel.

New rules come into force on 1 December 2013 affecting foreign and commonwealth personnel applying to live in the UK.

BritishForcesNews reports that the changes include a minimum income requirement and all spouses having to take an English language test.

In Cyprus personnel have been urged to apply for their visa before the changes come into force. See this video report from BritishForcesNews:

The House of Lords is holding a debate on Thursday, 7 November on "Protecting the armed forces from vulnerability to legal challenge". A useful House of Lords background note has been produced as background reading for this debate. The British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) has also produced a draft initial response to the 'Fog of law' Policy Exchange paper by Laura Croft and Thomas Tugendhat. We will be monitoring the debate and will comment further in light of what is said.

British military operations risk being undermined by human rights laws and health and safety red tape applying to troops in the field, according to the 'Fog of Law' paper issued by the Policy Exchange think tank on 18 October. In addition to favourable newspaper coverage and a more cautious welcome from the BAFF Chairman in a BBC radio interview, the paper was covered in two video reports by BFBS BritishForcesNews. This is the first of their reports:

British military operations risk being undermined by human rights laws and health and safety red tape applying to troops in the field, according to the 'Fog of Law' paper issued by the Policy Exchange think tank on 18 October. The first of two BFBS video reports is available here. The second video features an interview with one of the paper's authors, Tom Tugendhat:

This is an archived page from 2013. For the April 2015 BAFF statement on the SNP manifesto pledge in the General Election please click this link:

• General Election 2015: SNP manifesto pledge on armed forces representative bodies

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This is the archived text dated 18 October 2013:

The Scottish National Party (SNP), at its annual national conference 2013, approved a plan to improve conditions for service personnel after independence. The plan includes "Official representation of service personnel". Unlike the UK government at present but in line with countries like Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and Germany, the SNP would recognise the right of association for armed forces personnel.

While remaining neutral on the independence referendum question, BAFF welcomes the support of another political party for the principle of representation for service personnel.

The text of an SNP press release is below.

Most civilian voters can only register in the place where they are currently living. Members of the regular armed forces and their husbands, wives or civil partners have a wider choice, however.  Depending on individual circumstances, a regular armed forces member may be able to register: