HC Deb 11 December 2003 vol 415 cc568-9W
Mr. Keetch

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Army indicated when last questioned that they believed that(a) harassment, (b) discrimination and (c) bullying are problems in (i) their immediate area of work and (ii) the Army as a whole; what percentage of those responding this represents; what percentage of the actual strength this represents; and if he will make a statement. [142576]

Mr. Caplin

In response to the latest Serving Personnel Army Continuous Attitude Survey, 202 of those surveyed indicated they believed that harassment, discrimination or bullying were problems within their immediate work area; this represents 12 per cent. of those who responded to this question and 12 per cent. of those who returned questionnaires. In addition, 837 serving personnel indicated that they believed harassment, discrimination and bullying were problems within the British Army; this represents 51 percent of those who responded to this question and 50 per cent. of those who returned questionnaires.

The latest survey was undertaken in December 2002 and was sent to a four percent stratified random sample of the trained Army (excluding Gurkhas and Full Time Reserve Service).

Mr. Keetch

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Army indicated when last questioned that they have been a victim of(a) harassment, (b) discrimination and (c) bullying in the Army; what percentage of those responding this represents; what percentage of the actual strength this represents; and if he will make a statement. [142577]

Mr. Caplin

In response to the latest Army Serving Personnel Continuous Attitude Survey, those members of the Army that indicated they had been subject to harassment, discrimination or bullying in the last 12 months are shown in the table:

Question Number within previous 12 months: Percentage of those who answered the question Percentage of those who returned a completed questionnaire
Racial Discrimination 37 2.3 2.2
Racial Harassment 26 1.6 1.6
Sex Discrimination 54 3.3 3.2
Sexual Harassment 28 1.7 1.7
Bullying 83 5.1 5.0

The latest survey was undertaken in December 2002 and was sent to a 4 per cent. stratified random sample of the trained Army (excluding Gurkhas and Full Time Reserve Service personnel); There may be an element of double counting in the number of occurrences, for example, one individual may have indicated they were subject to both racial discrimination and racial harassment, this having been counted twice.