§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of Defence how many complaints seeking redress of grievance have been made in each of the last five years; how many have been successful; how many complaints related to injustice; and in how many of the cases there was a request for a payment because of injuries for which a legal action might have been brought but for section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1979.
§ Mr. FreemanSubmissions for redress of grievances made under the terms of the service discipline Acts may be dealt with by commanding officers, or at any of the higher levels of command, the service boards of the Defence Council. No central records are kept of the total number of submissions made. However, information relating to submissions considered by the service boards is as follows:
61W
Year Number of submissions considered Number in which redress was granted in whole or in part 1983 21 5 1984 33 8
Year Number of submissions considered Number in which redress was granted in whole or in part 1985 61 25 1986 62 13 1987 83 10 1988 (to date) 6 — Notes:
1. Figures only available from 1985 for submissions to the Admiralty Board.
2. Five submissions are still under consideration.
All complaints relate to what the complainant considers to be be injustice. As far as can be established from available records, four submissions considered by the service boards in the last five years have requested payments in circumstances where, but for the operation of section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 a legal action might have been pursued.