The service complaints system

Anyone who has served in the UK armed forces can make a complaint if they think they have been wronged in any matter relating to their service in the armed forces. This can include complaints of bullying, harassment, discrimination or biased, improper or dishonest behaviour.

Time limits apply to submitting a complaint. Since 2022, complaints are no longer assessed by the complainant’s chain of command and are now submitted to individual service central admissibility teams. If accepted, the complaint is investigated and assessed by a specially appointed decision body who will decide if the complaint is well-founded and, if it is, what redress, if any, is appropriate.

Individuals have the right to appeal if they are not happy with the decision made. From 2022 the time limit to submit an appeal is two weeks, reduced from the six-weeks which previously applied.

The Service Complaints Ombudsman

The purpose of the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces (SCOAF) is to provide independent and impartial oversight of the Service Complaints system.

The Ombudsman can:

• Refer individuals into the service complaints system
• Review admissibility decisions and can overturn a decision to not accept a complaint or an appeal.
• Investigate allegations of undue delay while a complaint is underway.

Once a complaint has been finally determined, the Ombudsman can:

• Investigate allegations of maladministration.
• Investigate the substance (merits) of a complaint.

However, the Ombudsman is not an appeal body.

Call for more powers

The Ombudsman has called for greater powers to initiate investigations or conduct thematic reporting. Currently, the office can only investigate issues at the request of others, including the Secretary of State for Defence. The Ombudsman, Mariette Hughes, said own-motion reporting would enable her to examine issues such as why people do not complain. Ms Hughes’ predecessor had made similar calls during her time in office.

The system is “not efficient, effective or fair”

The Ombudsman has a statutory requirement to report to Parliament annually on whether the system as a whole is “efficient, effective and fair.” Neither the Ombudsman, nor the previous Service Complaints Commissioner, has assessed the complaints system to be efficient, effective and fair.

The Defence Committee has raised concerns about the state of the system and has highlighted the experience of women in the armed forces. Government-commissioned reviews of inappropriate behaviour in the armed forces, and Liberty, the human rights group, have also recommended changes to the system.

The government has addressed some of these concerns in primary and secondary legislation, most recently in the Armed Forces Act 2021 and the Armed Forces (Service Complaints) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.

The Ombudsman struck a positive note in her 2023 report, saying “there have been a number of improvements made this year, which demonstrate that the goal of a system which is efficient, effective and fair is within reach”.

The proposed Armed Forces Commissioner

The government set out plans to legislate for an Armed Forces Commissioner in the King’s Speech 2024. The government has said that that the proposed Armed Forces Commissioner “will incorporate the functions currently undertaken by the Service Complaints Ombudsman”.