Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what UK military activity has taken place in the past year in support of counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean and Latin and South America.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy has conducted one period of counter-illicit trafficking operations in the Caribbean in January and February 2025.
The Ministry of Defence has also conducted routine capacity building training with regional partners for example to build their maritime operational capability.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the continuity of education allowance has increased since January and whether they plan to increase it further.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) helps Service families to provide stability in their children’s schooling where mobility might otherwise cause disruption. The Ministry of Defence engages with Service families through the Families Federations, the chain of command and Pay Colonel teams, who ensure that their views are represented in policy discussions.
With regards to allowance calculations, I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the then Minister for Veterans on 9 July 2025 to question 66168.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Armed Forces families and representatives since January regarding the continuity of education allowance.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) helps Service families to provide stability in their children’s schooling where mobility might otherwise cause disruption. The Ministry of Defence engages with Service families through the Families Federations, the chain of command and Pay Colonel teams, who ensure that their views are represented in policy discussions.
With regards to allowance calculations, I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the then Minister for Veterans on 9 July 2025 to question 66168.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish any documents about vetting or security clearance processes that were given to applicants of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
When the Taleban seized control in 2021, many thousands of people who served and supported our British Armed Forces were left in Afghanistan.
The UK made a commitment to honour the moral obligation we owe to those Afghans who stood with us and there was cross party support for this at the time. This became the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme.
All those resettling in the UK under Afghan resettlement schemes are coming to the UK legally. As with all those arriving to the UK, all those found eligible for ARAP have to undergo robust security checks, including for national security. If they don’t pass these checks, they are not granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK
An application must first be made, by the applicant, to the Ministry of Defence, who will decide if the applicant is eligible. If they are eligible for relocation to the UK, the second stage is that the Ministry Of Defence (MOD) will on behalf of the applicant, make an application to the Home Office for entry clearance (if they are outside the UK) or settlement (if they are in the UK). Eligibility does not guarantee resettlement in the UK. Those who are eligible must first undergo checks in accordance with the UK Immigration Rules
The MOD, as part of the first stage, sends an offer letter to Eligible Persons (EPs) which details the vetting and security process that applicants must go through to enter the UK and signposts EPs to the Government's Immigration Rules for further guidance. Permission to enter the UK is subject to the enrolment of biometrics and security checks run by the Home Office as part of the second stage.
National security is a priority for this Government and all ARAP eligible individuals who arrive in the UK will have undergone thorough security checks.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish all external contractors that worked on the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A wide variety of contractors have supported the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), with some involved in sensitive operational activities. As a result, a comprehensive list of external contractors that worked on ARAP cannot be published due to both operational risks and commercial sensitivity.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the breakdown of costs, by month, of flights used on the Afghanistan Response Route since its inception, including costs of (1) any Royal Air Force or government flights, and (2) any charter flights, with details of which organisation provided the charter.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In February 2022, under the previous Government a spreadsheet with names and other information relating of individual applicants of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) – the resettlement scheme for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan – was emailed outside of official Government systems.
The previous Government decided to seek an injunction concerning the breach and the High Court granted a super-injunction. They also decided to set up a new secret resettlement route, called the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR). The ARR was created to support a limited cohort of people who were affected by the data loss incident and who were previously thought to be at the highest risk, into the UK.
The current Secretary of State then commissioned an independent policy review from former Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence, Paul Rimmer. This began earlier this year and was presented to Ministers in June. The review examined the overall policy context in spring 2025, three years since the data incident and concluded that it appears “highly unlikely” that merely being on the dataset would be grounds for targeting.
As the Defence Secretary outlined in his oral statement of 15 July 2025, the Rimmer review was a very significant element in the Government’s decision to change policy to close the ARR, though not the sole element. We have now made the matter public so it can be subject to full Parliamentary scrutiny.
To resettle those under the ARR, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) uses mixed cohort flights to relocate Afghans to the UK under the schemes that make up the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP). This includes the ARR and ARAP scheme. These flights have also included a small number of persons eligible for the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
The MOD has used both RAF and charter flights. Additionally, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to resettle eligible Afghans has run charter flights. For reasons that are commercially and operationally sensitive, we cannot name the companies that organised the charter flights.
The average total monthly costs from MOD charter flights, Royal Air Force flights and IOM charter flights is to date £457,833.33.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the readiness of the UK Armed Forces for action in the Indo-Pacific region.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Carrier Strike Group deployment is a key focus for the UK as it travels to the Indo-Pacific region later this year. The UK also operates two persistently deployed Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessels in the region, and holds a permanent British Army garrison in Brunei.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement they have had with military families in receipt of the Continuity of Education Allowance while monitoring the impact of VAT on independent school fees; whether they will provide details of which military family representatives Ministers have met since that policy took effect in January.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the unique circumstances faced by our Service personnel and that frequent mobility can disrupt children’s education. Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) helps by providing the children of Service personnel with a stable education that would not otherwise be available in the state-maintained day school sector, due to their family’s mobility.
Following the introduction of VAT on independent school fees, the MOD conducted an in-year recalculation of the rates of CEA effective 1 December 2024. The single Services will continue to monitor any impact on retention in service for those claiming CEA following the introduction of VAT. Additionally, the MOD will continue to monitor the impact through engagement with the Families Federations and feedback from Service personnel.
The Pay and Allowances Casework and Complaints Cell (PACCC) will monitor the impact on Service personnel changing schools and withdrawing from CEA. Currently, no Service Personnel have withdrawn from claiming CEA as a direct result of the introduction of VAT on independent schools