§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the Government have refused to allow ex-service men to have access to an independent assessor for their complaints. [32269]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 3 March 1998]: Service personnel, both serving and ex-serving, have the statutory right, under the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Discipline Act 1957 and Queen's Regulations, to submit a complaint to the Defence Council about any matter relating to their service. The current provisions stipulate that complaints must be submitted within three months of the date of the action complained of, although there is provision for the discretionary acceptance of late complaints where it is accepted that earlier submission had not been reasonably practical. 428W The time limit for the submission of complaints, and the application of the provisions to ex-Service personnel, were introduced in October 1997. Prior to that, there was no time limit and complaints from ex-Service personnel were accepted for investigation on a discretionary basis.