§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is an equal opportunities investigation; who sits on such an investigation; and what powers it has. [HL565]
§ Lord BachAn equal opportunities investigation is an investigation into a complaint of bullying, harassment or discrimination made under the Armed Forces' formal complaints procedures. Investigations are normally commissioned by commanding officers when a formal complaint is made or by a higher authority if the complaint is against the commanding officer.
In most cases complaints are investigated by a team composed of personnel within the unit who are not in the same department or in any of the parties concerned in the 108WA complaint and who will be viewed as impartial by the parties, and who have received equal opportunities training.
An investigation team is nominated by the commanding officer or the authority handling the complaint, and commissioned to investigate the allegations made in the complaint. It has authority to interview the parties concerned and any witnesses, and report its findings. The aim of the investigation is to enable the commissioning authority to reach a decision on the complaint and to determine what action to take.