Ingram rejects public enquiry
The Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram has today rejected calls for a public enquiry into the deaths of recruits at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey.
However, he announced that the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) would in future oversee the army’s training programme.
The ALI is a non departmental body which is responsible for assessing the quality of adult education in the UK. They audit schemes funded by employers and trade unions as well as national post-16 vocational schemes.
Though it reports to the Government, its findings are also publically avaliable and written by independent authorities.
There will also be an injection of £23 million into recruit training system.
Mr Ingram’s comments come in response to a critical report into care in the army by Surrey Police.
Surrey Police were called in to investigate the deaths of four young recruits Sean Benton, 20, Cheryl James, 18, Geoff Gray and James Collinson, both 17, who all died from gunshot wounds between 1995 and 2002 at the barracks, near Farnborough.
The army investigation had concluded that the deaths were a result of suicide, but the soldiers’ families refused to accept this finding.
They employed an independent forensics expert who claimed there were significant disparities between the evidence and the verdict of suicide.
Investigating the deaths, Surrey Police found no grounds for a criminal prosecution, but their investigation found repeated cases of bullying and failure to abide with a duty of care at Deepcut.
Surrey Police’s critical report suggested that there should be a further, more wide ranging investigation into bullying in the British army.
Responding, Mr Ingram insisted that the armed forces and the Government took the welfare of recruits seriously.
He said that 2002 had seen an audit of initial training which amounted to a “rigorous self examination” and that 48 of the 58 recommendations had now been implemented.
Mr Ingram accepted though that some sort of outside scrutiny was necessary to ensure public confidence, and said that the ALI would begin conducting independent assessments in the autumn.
The first area for focus will be the initial training over the three services, with a particular emphasis on care and welfare.
The ALI will have the power to re-vist areas of concern and check that recommendations have been implemented.
The Minister said he believed this constituted a “positive and prompt response to the Surrey Police report.”
He rejected the calls for a public enquiry saying he was not sure what would be gained, given that extensive investigations into the deaths have already been carried out.
Geoff Gray, whose son of the same name died of gunshot wounds in September, 2001, said his meeting with Mr Ingram on Monday morning would come too late to make a difference.
Mr Gray said: “I don’t see how what I am going to say to him will make any difference if he is making his statement just a few hours later.
“I have been asking for this meeting for more than a year and I am not so much disappointed as angry that we are not allowed to put our case forward.”
