Armed Forces Bill 2026
A Bill to renew the Armed Forces Act 2006, including provisions for the Armed Forces Covenant, Defence Housing, Reserve Forces, and the disciplinary system.
Overview
Armed Forces Bills are constitutionally significant, dating back to the 1688 Bill of Rights, and form the legal basis for Parliamentary approval to raise and maintain the Armed Forces (and by extension the Navy and Air Force) during peacetime. In modern times, this consent is given through the presentation of an Armed Forces Bill every five years.
The primary purpose of this Bill is to renew the Armed Forces Act 2006 (last renewed in 2021), but it also provides the government with an opportunity to renew the contract between the nation and those who serve, strengthen national security and improve conditions of service by placing an emphasis on the welfare of our people.
Measures in the Bill
Key measures in the Bill include: extending the Armed Forces Covenant duty, the establishment of the Defence Housing Service, new powers for Defence personnel to use approved equipment for the purpose of detecting and preventing relevant offences by drones being committed against Defence sites, and a package of measures relating to the Service Justice System.
Armed Forces Covenant
The Bill delivers the 2024 Government manifesto commitment to fully enshrine the Armed Forces Covenant in law. It expands the existing Covenant Legal Duty to cover a wider range of policy areas and brings the UK and devolved governments within scope, alongside local authorities.
Defence Housing Service
The Bill establishes a new body - the Defence Housing Service - as a key part of the Defence Housing Strategy 2025. Its role is to improve the availability and quality of defence housing, regenerate or develop land used for defence purposes, support the development of service communities, and promote their continued wellbeing.
Uncrewed Devices
The Bill gives Defence personnel powers to use approved equipment to detect, prevent and defeat drone related offences at Defence sites.
Readiness measures
The Bill contains measures that will:
- Expand the pool of Reserves by increasing the maximum age limit for recall, enabling the use of experienced volunteer reservists when required.
- Enable seamless transfer between regular and reserve forces.
- Give the Secretary of State power to authorise recall for warlike operations that are being prepared or conducted.
Service Justice System (SJS) measures which will:
- Modernise and improve victim support: These measures will better serve victims by improving their experiences of the SJS. They enhance the guidance and support available to victims and provide a way for them to submit a complaint if they are not happy with the service they receive.
- Ensure the SJS is able to protect victims of the most serious offences from further harm: This suite of protections and orders will ensure that victims in the SJS are better protected, and the risks of further harm are reduced, by taking swift action against perpetrators. The measures actively support the Government manifesto commitment of halving Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade.
- Improve the effectiveness/efficiency of the SJS: These measures will improve how the SJS works so it can be a flexible, modern, efficient jurisdiction capable of operating in any environment.
Other measures will:
- Replace the Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations with a new national non‑departmental public body that will take on its functions.
- Extend the remit of the Armed Forces Commissioner to cover the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
- Remove the Votes A reporting requirements to Parliament in respect of reserve forces and commitments.
- Enable the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) to deal with offences that cross national borders.
- Enable service personnel (or civilian personnel subject to service discipline) to be detained when their mental health poses significant risk to themselves or others whilst deployed overseas.
- Amend the Oil and Pipelines Act 1985 to expand the energy sources and fuels in relation to which the Oil and Pipelines Agency may exercise its defence-related functions.
Related content
Defence Serious Crime Command (DSCC)