Have your say on the Armed Forces Bill

Do you have relevant expertise and experience or a special interest in the Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament?

If so, you can submit your views in writing to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee which is going to consider this Bill.

Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill [HL] 2014-15

Aims of the Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill

The intention of the Bill is to reform the Service Complaints System. It sets out the framework for the redress of service complaints and introduces a streamlined appeals process. It amends the Armed Forces Act 2006.

The Bill strengthens oversight of that system by converting the role of the current Service Complaints Commissioner into a Service Complaints Ombudsman. The current Commissioner and the Defence Committee have pressed the Government to create an Ombudsman.

The Bill would also give the Ombudsman the power to investigate any maladministration in the handling of a service complaint.

The Bill also includes a power to make payments to charities, benevolent organisations and others for the benefit of the armed forces community.

Follow the progress of the Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill [Lords]

The Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill was initially published in the House of Lords and completed its Parliamentary stages there on 5 November 2014. The Bill was presented to the House of Commons on 6 November 2014 and had its second reading debate on 5 January 2015, giving MPs their first opportunity to debate the main principles of the Bill.

This Bill has now been committed to a Public Bill Committee, where detailed examination of the Bill will take place. The Committee will hold its first meeting on a date yet to be announced.

Guidance on submitting written evidence

Deadline for written evidence submissions

The Public Bill Committee is now able to receive written evidence. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration. The Committee is expected to meet for the first time on Tuesday 10 February; it will stop receiving written evidence at the end of the Committee stage on Thursday 12 February 2015.

Please note: When the Committee reports it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can report earlier than Thursday 12 February.

What should written evidence cover?

Your submission should address matters contained within the Bill and concentrate on issues where you have a special interest or expertise, and factual information of which you would like the Committee to be aware.

It is helpful if the submission includes a brief introduction about you or your organisation. The submission should not have been previously published or circulated elsewhere.

If you have any concerns about your submission, please contact the Scrutiny Unit (details below).

How should written evidence be submitted?

Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk. Please note that submissions sent to the Government department in charge of the Bill will not be treated as evidence to the Public Bill Committee.

Submissions should be in the form of a Word document. A summary should be provided. Paragraphs should be numbered, but there should be no page numbering.

Essential statistics or further details can be added as annexes, which should also be numbered. To make publication easier, please avoid the use of coloured graphs, complex diagrams or pictures.

As a guideline, submissions should not exceed 3,000 words.

Please include in the covering email the name, address, telephone number and email address of the person responsible for the submission. The submission should be dated.

What will happen to my evidence?

The written evidence will be circulated to all Committee Members to inform their consideration of the Bill.

Most submissions will also be published on the internet as soon as possible after the Committee has started sitting.

The Scrutiny Unit can help with any queries about written evidence.

Scrutiny Unit contact details

Email: scrutiny@parliament.uk
Telephone: 020 7219 8387
Fax: 020 7219 8381
Address: Ian Hook
Senior Executive Officer
Scrutiny Unit, 7 Millbank
London SW1P 3JA

Further information

This article was produced by the Commons Digital Outreach Team. Follow the @HouseofCommons on Twitter for updates on the UK House of Commons Chamber.