Tuesday, October 15, 2024

This is an ARCHIVED article at baff.org.uk. Information and/or links may well be out of date.

The House of Commons Defence Committee's report of its inquiry into the work of the Service Complaints Commissioner for the Armed Forces (SCC) will be published at 0001 hrs (BST) on Tuesday 26 March. Written evidence to the inquiry, including a memorandum submitted by BAFF, is already available at the link below.

BAFF called for the SCC's powers and role to be increased to those of a full Armed Forces Ombudsman responsible to Parliament. BAFF also highlighted perceptions - especially in the current atmosphere of redundancy and uncertainty - that submitting a service complaint may not be in the best interests of the potential complainant.

UPDATE 26 Feb 2013: Defence Committee backs BAFF call for Armed Forces Ombudsman.

Some may be "particularly reluctant to seek redress if it is seen to involve their present commanding officer." As a membership body open to all ranks, BAFF's interest in the complaints system was primarily on behalf of the complainant, but also included those administering the system and those of any rank who "with or without justification" found themselves implicated in a complaint.