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The full report can be read by clicking this link to the Surrey Police web site.
Responding to the report, Adam Ingram MP, Minister for the Armed Forces, issued the following written statement to Parliament:
“The Chief Constable of the Surrey Police has today published his report following the completion of the police examinations into wider issues identified during police investigations into the deaths of Privates Sean Benton, Cheryl James, Geoff Gray and James Collinson at the Princess Royal Barracks Deepcut between 1995 and 2002. We welcome the conclusion of the police investigation and the report. The report makes recommendations which we are considering carefully. I intend to make a further announcement on this subject in the near future.
“Each of these four deaths was an individual tragedy in its own right and we very much regret the loss of these young lives. The Police report acknowledges that we have been working energetically to ensure that lessons have been learnt and to improve the Army’s care regime. It concludes by recommending that the Ministry of Defence considers a broader inquiry into how the care regime can be further improved and to provide assurance that the momentum that has developed will be sustained.
“As the report highlights, one key element of the work we have undertaken has been the Army Learning Account, which is a continuous record of lessons learned and the action taken as a result. The report also refers to work undertaken by the Directorate of Operational Capability (DOC) into the care of recruits in initial training, which I published last year. This was followed some five months later by a further report assessing progress in implementing recommendations (Hansard 10 February 2003 Col 35WS, and 16 July 2003 Col 42WS refer).
“We are committed to continuous improvement in the training and care regime, and will look carefully at what benefits a broader investigation might offer and what form such an investigation might take.”
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