Military Complaints Procedures

HC Deb 05 June 2000 vol 351 cc1-2W

Ms Coffey

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he plans to lay before Parliament Mr. Jim McDonald's annual report as Independent Assessor of Military Complaints Procedures in Northern Ireland. [124534]

Mr. Ingram

Mr. McDonald's report is being published today and copies are being placed in the Library.

I note that Mr. McDonald has said that the military authorities have continued to respond constructively to his independently developed assessment of their role in the complaints system, and that the renewed priority given to training in the specific areas of complaint handling and complaint avoidance produced good results in 1999.

The Report of the Independent Assessor continues to provide valuable reassurances to both Government and the public that the army's complaints procedures stand scrutiny. The Government attach importance to this role and its statutory basis is to be continued through the Terrorism Bill, currently before the House of Lords.