Armed Forces Bill

House of Commons

Session 2005 - 06
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Other Bills before Parliament

Armed Forces Bill

Armed Forces Bill
Part 14 — Enlistment, Terms of Service etc
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327
Terms and conditions of enlistment and service
(1)
The Defence Council may by regulations make provision with respect to the
terms and conditions of enlistment and service of persons enlisting, or who
have enlisted, in the regular forces.
(2)
The regulations may in particular make provision for the purposes of—
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(a)
specifying the duration of the term for which a person is enlisted
(whether by reference to a number of years or another criterion or
both);
(b)
requiring any such term to be one of service with a regular force, or to
be in part service with a regular force and in part service with a reserve
10
force;
(c)
enabling a person to end his service with a regular force at a prescribed
time, or to transfer at a prescribed time to a reserve force;
(d)
restricting a person, in consideration of the acceptance by him of any
benefit or advantage, from exercising any right referred to in paragraph
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(c);
(e)
enabling a person enlisted for a term of service of a prescribed
description to be treated as if he had enlisted for a term of service of a
different description;
(f)
enabling a person to extend or reduce the term of his service (whether
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with a regular force or a reserve force, or both);
(g)
enabling a person to continue in service after completion of the term of
his service;
(h)
enabling a person in a reserve force to re-enter service with a regular
force;
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(i)
enabling a person to restrict his service to service in a particular area;
(j)
requiring a person who has restricted his service to service in a
particular area to serve outside that area for a number of days in any
year not exceeding a prescribed maximum.
(3)
The exercise of any right conferred on a person by virtue of subsection (2) may
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be made subject to prescribed conditions.
(4)
The Defence Council may also by regulations make provision enabling—
(a)
a member of the regular army of or below the rank of warrant officer, or
(b)
a member of the Army Reserve of or below the rank of warrant officer
who is in permanent service on call-out under any provision of the
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Reserve Forces Act 1980 (c. 9) or the Reserve Forces Act 1996 (c. 14),

to be transferred between corps without his consent in prescribed
circumstances.
(5)
Regulations under subsection (4) may in particular make provision for varying
the terms and conditions of service of a person transferred between corps.
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(6)
In this section “corps” means any body of the regular army that may from time
to time be declared by Royal Warrant to be a corps.
328
Desertion and absence without leave: forfeiture of service etc
(1)
The Defence Council may by regulations make provision—
(a)
with respect to the making of a confession by a member of the regular
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forces that he is guilty of an offence under section 8 (desertion);

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(b)
for the making of a determination as to whether a trial may be
dispensed with in the case of a person who makes such a confession;
(c)
for the forfeiture of a period of service of such a person where a trial is
so dispensed with.
(2)
The Defence Council may also by regulations make provision for the forfeiture
5
of a period of service of a member of the regular forces who is convicted of an
offence under section 8.
(3)
Regulations under subsection (1) or (2) may include provision for enabling a
determination to be made in prescribed circumstances restoring (in whole or in
part) a forfeited period of service.
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(4)
The Defence Council may also by regulations make provision with respect to—
(a)
the issue of a certificate of absence in respect of a member of the regular
forces absent without leave for more than a prescribed period;
(b)
the effects of such a certificate (in particular in connection with the pay
and allowances of the person in respect of whom it is issued).
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329
Discharge etc from the regular forces and transfer to the reserve forces
(1)
The Defence Council may by regulations make provision with respect to—
(a)
the discharge of members of the regular forces of or below the rank or
rate of warrant officer;
(b)
the transfer of such persons to the reserve forces.
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(2)
The regulations may in particular make provision with respect to—
(a)
authorisation of a person’s discharge or transfer to a reserve force;
(b)
the status of a person who is entitled to be, but has not yet been,
discharged or transferred to a reserve force.
(3)
The regulations may also in particular make provision conferring on a warrant
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officer (other than an acting warrant officer) a right to be discharged—
(a)
following his reduction in rank or rate; or
(b)
following his reduction in rank or rate in prescribed circumstances.
(4)
The regulations may also in particular make provision enabling—
(a)
the discharge of a person from the regular forces (including by virtue of
30
subsection (3)), or
(b)
the transfer of a person to a reserve force,
to be postponed in prescribed circumstances.
330
Restriction on administrative reduction in rank or rate
(1)
The rank or rate of a warrant officer or non-commissioned officer (“the relevant
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person”) may be reduced only by an order within subsection (2).
(2)
An order is within this subsection if—
(a)
it is made by the relevant person’s commanding officer; and
(b)
it reduces the rank or rate of the relevant person—
(i)
by one acting rank or rate; or
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(ii)
if he has no acting rank or rate, by one substantive rank or rate.
(3)
An order reducing the rank of a person who is a corporal in any of Her
Majesty’s air forces is within subsection (2)(b)(i) (if he is an acting corporal) or

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(2)(b)(ii) (if he is not) if, and only if, it reduces his rank to the highest rank he
has held in that force as an airman.
(4)
A commanding officer who is of or below the rank of commodore, brigadier or
air commodore may make an order within subsection (2) only with the
permission of higher authority; but this does not apply if the relevant person is
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a lance corporal or lance bombardier.
(5)
Nothing in this section applies to a reduction in rank or rate by virtue of a
sentence.
(6)
Nothing in this section applies in relation to the reversion of a person,
otherwise than on account of his conduct, from his acting rank or rate to his
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substantive rank or rate.
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Pay, bounty and allowances
(1)
Her Majesty may by warrant make provision with respect to pay, bounty and
allowances for members of the regular or reserve forces.
(2)
A Royal Warrant made under this section may in particular—
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(a)
provide for the way in which pay, bounty and allowances are to be
paid;
(b)
impose conditions or restrictions on the making of such payments;
(c)
confer a discretion on any person.
(3)
Provision that may be made by virtue of subsection (2)(b) includes in particular
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provision authorising the making of a deduction from a payment to a person—
(a)
in respect of anything (including any service) supplied to him;
(b)
in order to recover any overpayment or advance; or
(c)
in order to reclaim any relevant payment.
(4)
For the purposes of subsection (3)(c) a payment is “relevant” if—
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(a)
it was made on condition that it would or might be repayable in
specified circumstances; and
(b)
any such circumstance has occurred.
(5)
A Royal Warrant under this section may not authorise the forfeiture of pay.
(6)
A Royal Warrant under this section may not make provision about money
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distributable under the Naval Agency and Distribution Act 1864 (c. 24).
(7)
Section 366(5) (power to make supplementary provision etc) applies in relation
to Royal Warrants under this section.
(8)
A Royal Warrant under this section may be amended or revoked by a further
Royal Warrant under this section.
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(9)
Nothing in this section prevents provision as to rates of allowances from being
made otherwise than under this section.
Redress of individual grievances
332
Redress of individual grievances: service complaints
(1)
If—
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(a)
a person subject to service law thinks himself wronged in any matter
relating to his service, or
(b)
a person who has ceased to be subject to service law thinks himself
wronged in any such matter which occurred while he was so subject,

he may make a complaint about the matter under this section (a “service
5
complaint”).
(2)
But a person may not make a service complaint about a matter of a description
specified in regulations made by the Secretary of State.
(3)
The Defence Council must by regulations make provision with respect to the
procedure for making and dealing with service complaints.
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(4)
The regulations must in particular make provision requiring—
(a)
a service complaint to be made to an officer of a prescribed description;
(b)
the officer to whom a service complaint is made to decide whether to
consider the complaint himself or to refer it to a superior officer of a
prescribed description or to the Defence Council;
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(c)
a service complaint considered by the officer to whom the complaint is
made to be referred, on the application of the complainant, to a superior
officer of a prescribed description or (if the officer considers it
appropriate) to the Defence Council;
(d)
a superior officer to whom a service complaint is referred by virtue of
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paragraph (b) or (c) to decide whether to consider the complaint
himself or to refer it to the Defence Council;
(e)
a service complaint considered by a superior officer to whom the
complaint is referred by virtue of paragraph (b) or (c) to be referred, on
the application of the complainant, to the Defence Council.
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(5)
Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (3) and (4), the regulations
may also make provision—
(a)
as to the way in which a service complaint is to be made (including
provision as to the information to be provided by the complainant);
(b)
that a service complaint may not be made, except in prescribed
30
circumstances, after the end of a prescribed period.
(6)
A period prescribed under subsection (5)(b) must not be less than three months
beginning with the day on which the matter complained of occurred.
(7)
If, under provision made by virtue of subsections (3) and (4)—
(a)
an officer decides to consider a service complaint himself, or
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(b)
a service complaint is referred to the Defence Council,

the officer or the Defence Council (“the appropriate person”) must decide
whether the complaint is well-founded.
(8)
If the appropriate person decides that the complaint is well-founded, he
must—
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(a)
decide what redress (if any), within his authority, would be
appropriate; and
(b)
grant any such redress.
(9)
In this section “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the
Defence Council.
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