ARMED FORCES BILL

These notes relate to the Lords Amendments to the Armed Forces Bill,
as brought from the House of Lords on 10 October 2011.

Explanatory Notes

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INTRODUCTION

1. These explanatory notes relate to the Lords Amendments to the Armed Forces Bill, as brought from the House of Lords on 10 October 2011. They have been prepared by the Ministry of Defence in order to assist the reader of the Bill and the Lords Amendments and to help inform debate on the Lords Amendments. They do not form part of the Bill and have not been endorsed by Parliament.

2. These notes, like the Lords Amendments themselves, refer to HL Bill 76, the Bill as first printed for the Lords.

3. These notes need to be read in conjunction with the Lords Amendments and the text of the Bill. They are not, and are not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the effect of the Lords Amendments.

4. Lords Amendment 1, though a non-Government amendment, was supported by the Government. Lords Amendments 3, 4 and 5 were tabled in the name of the Minister. Lords Amendments 2 and 6 were opposed by the Government. In the following commentary, an asterisk appears in the heading of a paragraph dealing with a non-Government amendment that was opposed by the Government; and references to "AFA 2006" are to the Armed Forces Act 2006.

COMMENTARY ON Lords amendments

Lords Amendment 1

5. Lords Amendment 1 is a technical amendment that would insert the new section relating to the armed forces covenant report into a new Part 16A of the Armed Forces Act 2006, instead of in Part 17. The new section would become section 343A of AFA 2006 (instead of section 359A, as currently provided by the Bill).

Bill 232-EN 55/1

* Lords Amendment 2

6. Lords Amendment 2 would add to the section relating to the armed forces covenant report a requirement for the report to address effects of membership, or former membership, of the armed forces on service people in the operation of inquests.

Lords Amendments 3, 4 and 5

7. Lords Amendment 3 would require the Secretary of State, in connection with the preparation of an armed forces covenant report, to obtain the views of relevant government departments and to seek the views of relevant devolved administrations in relation to the effects to be covered by the report. The amendment would also require the report to set out those views, either in full or in summary.

8. Lords Amendment 4 would omit the interpretation provisions contained in subsections (7) to (9) of the section relating to the armed forces covenant report. Lords Amendment 5 would re-insert those provisions in a new section of AFA 2006, along with new definitions of "relevant government department" and "relevant devolved administration".

* Lords Amendment 6

9. Lords Amendment 6 would insert a new section 339A in AFA 2006. That section would provide that medals awarded by Commonwealth governments to present or former members of the armed forces and other Crown servants - including the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal – may be worn without restriction.