Tackling toxic cultures and taking steps to keep personnel safe would help retention issues
The MOD is fighting a long-running retention crisis.
Late last year, Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed that for the last 12 months the Armed Forces have been losing 300 full-time personnel each month – 300 more than they have been recruiting for.
Describing "deep-set problems" which have plagued the MOD over the last 14 years, Mr Healey announced a number of initiatives in an attempt to reverse the tide.
This long-running retention crisis will take time to address and, in the meantime, personnel are facing a new, changed landscape characterised by the MOD trying to retain people, coupled with continuing economic uncertainty and a cost-of-living crisis.
Added into this mix is the unhappiness of military personnel, with the latest Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey showing that almost 60% of personnel have described their service morale as "low" – an increase for a third continuous year.
To serve or to take Premature Voluntary Retirement is a complex and nuanced situation.
The retention crisis is fuelling – from our perspective – a new environment when it comes to instances of harassment and how these are being dealt with.
It stands to reason that if there has been a complaint made by an individual, the MOD will do everything it can to retain that person and support them.
This may take the form of encouraging an individual to go through the Service Complaints process and keeping the complaint in-house.
Reluctance to pursue complaints
What this can result in is an individual who, deciding not to seek help or advice from elsewhere, may end up in a non-deployable job, doesn't get the right treatment and, after a year or two of investigations, receives an unsatisfactory Service Complaints outcome.
At that stage, they may well be out of time to pursue any other options.
This is a situation we have seen on a number of occasions recently.
It is totally understandable that personnel, amidst an economic crisis and often with financial obligations to loved ones, will be reluctant to pursue a claim for harassment or injury and leave their careers – and their homes, in some cases.
However, it is important that all options are made available and explored before any paths are closed.
I would certainly advise anyone who has suffered abuse or injury to raise a Service Complaint, speak to the Royal Military Police (where there has been a crime) and their doctors about their symptoms and get a referral to a psychiatrist.
I would also always advise the individual in question to seek advice on limitation periods and their legal options, particularly when there have been instances of sexual harassment.
A spotlight has been shone on this issue recently when the coroner investigating Gunner Jaysley Beck's death said there had been errors in the way the Army had investigated a sexual assault suffered by Gnr Beck.
Tackling the retention crisis by improving workplace culture
From our perspective, the retention crisis is acting as a catalyst and changing how claims of abuse and bullying are dealt with by the MOD.
It is important that personnel go into conversations about these issues with that factor in mind and investigate all possible avenues of justice.
Mr Healey did outline several initial measures late last year to address the retention crisis, such as offering retention bonuses to thousands of service personnel and the introduction of fast-track recruitment to bolster numbers.
However, in our view, tackling toxic workplace cultures and taking steps to keep personnel safe and happy should be the number one priority and this would also help retain good and well-trained personnel.
Natasha Mason, Solicitor in the Military Claims Team at Bolt Burdon Kemp has dedicated her legal career to representing injured service personnel and veterans.
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