§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those provisions of employment law which do not apply to members of the forces.
§ Mr. Neubert[holding answer 11 April 1989]: The terms of service of members of the armed forces are governed by service law and regulations. The extent to which the provisions of civil employment legislation apply to the Crown in general and to the armed forces in particular is set out where appropriate in the legislation itself. Many of the most significant of such provisions are contained in the Employment Protection Act 1975 and the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978; I refer the right hon. Gentleman especially to sections 121 and 138 respectively, which state that those Acts do not apply to service as a member of the naval, military or air forces of the Crown.