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Army Barracks (Deaths)

This is the first time I have had the pleasure of serving under your chairmanship, Mrs. Anderson. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on securing the debate and on the work she does as chairman of the all-party group, the work of which I know hon. Members support. The hon. Lady and others have understandably focused on the investigation stage of the process and what has happened since the deaths, but I shall focus on some issues raised in the Blake review, which others have mentioned, concerning events leading up to the deaths. In other words, what could the Ministry of Defence do better to avoid deaths in the first place, thus avoiding going through the investigation process? As many hon. Members have done, I pay tribute on behalf of the Opposition to all members of our armed forces who serve their country with distinction, and to their families, who provide a great deal of support for that service. In return, we owe them a thorough debate and a thorough consideration of the Blake recommendations to ensure that they have the very best possible conditions of service. It is worth saying that the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces face a considerable challenge. As has been said, the armed forces recruit people who are sometimes from very challenging backgrounds, many of whom are under 18, and the forces have to turn them into professional soldiers. That requires a robust training regime. A regime that was not robust would not do proper service to those young people because it would subject them to difficult and challenging conditions without the proper training and without equipping them to deal with what are often life-threatening situations. A difficult balance must be undertaken. There must be a tough and robust training regime to ensure that those young people are ready for combat, but we must also ensure that the duty of care is properly fulfilled. The hon. Member for North Durham (Mr. Jones) drew attention to the thorough report that the Select Committee on Defence produced on the duty of care, which thoroughly considered these issues. The Opposition support the continuation of recruitment of those who are under 18: they make a tremendous contribution to the armed forces. The Blake report said that a number of things could be done prior to recruitment as part of the recruitment process, and I should be interested to hear the Minister's comments. In at least two of the Deepcut cases, there was a known—though not known to the Army—history of self-harm. Will the Minister to comment on what progress has been made on improving the knowledge that the Army has of the medical histories of recruits? To what extent can that knowledge be better taken into account when people are recruited, either to make appropriate decisions about recruitment, or, just as importantly, if recruits are at risk and are still thought right for the armed forces, to ensure that they are given appropriate care during their training and service?