Comment from Defence Committee following media reports in relation to the death of Royal Artillery Gunner, Jaysley Beck

5 October 2023

On 14 November, the Committee will hold an evidence session with the Ministry of Defence to review the Government’s progress towards meeting the recommendations of the Committee’s Women in the Armed Forces Report (2021).

Defence Committee

The MOD has given a special dispensation to allow serving personnel to give evidence to the Committee as it undertakes this review. Current and former service personnel are encouraged to contribute and share their experiences from the past two years since the original inquiry. Further information is available here.

Chair's comment

Chair of the Sub-Committee on Women in the Armed Forces, Sarah Atherton MP, said:

“My sympathies are with the family of Gunner Beck – her death is a tragedy. We await news of a date for the inquest into her death.

“The Defence Committee made a series of recommendations to Government in 2021 to improve its handling of unacceptable behaviour, most of which the Ministry of Defence officially accepted.

“We now want to understand whether there has been enough change in practice over the last two years. We will hold a public evidence session with the MOD in November.

“To inform our session, we are seeking evidence from servicewomen (with approval from the MOD) and recent female veterans, in relation to their experiences since our Women in the Armed Forces Report was published in 2021. I would encourage all those wishing to share their experiences of Armed Forces culture over the last two years to come forward and share their evidence with the Committee.”