Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial assistance will be made available to individuals employed at No.4 School of Technical Training at RAF St. Athan to transfer to its new location; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The future location and timeframe to relocate No.4 School of Technical Training at MOD St Athan has not been finalised and is subject to further assessment. The provision of any financial assistance will be in accordance with MOD policy at the time of the move.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a date for the closure of No.4 School of Technical Training at RAF St. Athan has been agreed; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is an ongoing requirement for the training delivered by No. 4 School of Technical Training, and there are no plans to close the School. However, the intent remains to relocate No.4 School of Technical Training from its current location in St Athan before the lease on the School's buildings expire in 2024.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the lease for buildings occupied by No.4 School of Technical Training at RAF St. Athan is due to expire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The lease for the land currently occupied by No. 4 School of Technical Training has been extended until March 2024.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) applications his Department has received and (b) payments his Department has made for injury compensation in the last nine years where the injury was sustained more than (i) five years and (ii) 10 years previously; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Ministry of Defence does not hold centralised information on injury dates relating to War Pension Scheme (WPS) claims on the War Pension Computer System (WPCS). To compile this information would incur disproportionate cost as paper claim files would have to be manually reviewed by Defence Business Services Veterans UK. There is no time limit on submitting a WPS claim.
The response relating to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) has been compiled using data held on the Compensation and Pension System (CAPS). However, it has not been possible to separate injury and illness claims as they are not recorded separately on the CAPS and to compile this information for injury claims only would incur disproportionate cost through a review of paper files. The response therefore includes both injury and illness claims.
The incident date as recorded on the CAPS has been used to determine claims registered five or ten years after the individual's injury was sustained or the onset of illness. It should be noted that the incident date information may not always be precise and the information provided is therefore an estimate. Claims under the AFCS can be made up to seven years from the date of the original injury/diagnosis.
There were 10,767 injury/illness claims registered under the AFCS since 1 April 2010 where the injury/illness was recorded on the CAPS as having been sustained more than five years prior to the date the claim was registered. Of these, 5,193 were awarded compensation as at 31 March 2019. Those not awarded include claims pending a decision, rejected claims and claims assessed as not serious enough to attract a lump sum payment.
There were 619 injury/illness claims registered under the AFCS since 1 April 2010 where the injury/illness was recorded on the CAPS as having been sustained more than ten years prior to the date the claim was registered. Of these, 123 were awarded compensation as at 31 March 2019. As above, those not awarded include claims pending a decision, rejected claims and claims assessed as but not serious enough to attract a lump sum payment.
For common law negligence claims, records are not kept which allow the time between the date of injury and date of claim to be calculated. In addition, not all claims result from a single incident so dates cannot be assigned. The date of knowledge of the injury or illness caused by a potentially negligent act is often the significant factor.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the proposals outlined in his Department's consultation document Legal Protections for Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans serving in operations outside the United Kingdom will result in varying the legal protections offered to civilians (a) killed and (b) injured while serving outside the UK to take action through the courts for compensation; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The consultation on Legal Protections for Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans will close on 13 October 2019. The Ministry of Defence will study carefully the responses on its proposals (on a statutory presumption against prosecutions arising from overseas incidents occurring more than 10 years previously; on a partial defence that takes account of the operational context; and on limiting the courts’ discretion to extend the three-year time limit for bringing civil claims for personal injury or death) before deciding how to take these measures forward.
The proposed civil litigation longstop will not preclude Service personnel or civilians deployed on overseas operations from bringing claims in relation to PTSD or other conditions that manifest or are diagnosed more than 10 years after the incident which caused the condition, as section 11 of the Limitation Act calculates time limits from the later of (a) the date on which the cause of action accrued or (b) the date of knowledge.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library any analysis undertaken by his Department on the effect of proposals in Section 3 Civil litigation longstop of the consultation on Legal Protection for Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans in operations outside of the UK on (a) personnel who experience PTSD in excess of 10 years after their service; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The consultation on Legal Protections for Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans will close on 13 October 2019. The Ministry of Defence will study carefully the responses on its proposals (on a statutory presumption against prosecutions arising from overseas incidents occurring more than 10 years previously; on a partial defence that takes account of the operational context; and on limiting the courts’ discretion to extend the three-year time limit for bringing civil claims for personal injury or death) before deciding how to take these measures forward.
The proposed civil litigation longstop will not preclude Service personnel or civilians deployed on overseas operations from bringing claims in relation to PTSD or other conditions that manifest or are diagnosed more than 10 years after the incident which caused the condition, as section 11 of the Limitation Act calculates time limits from the later of (a) the date on which the cause of action accrued or (b) the date of knowledge.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's document Legal protection for our Armed Forces Personnel and veteran serving in Operations outside of the United Kingdom, how many military personnel have benefitted from the discretion on enforcement of time limits to bring a claim as described in that document; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
All claims received are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Department's legal liability. Part of this process is to take a view as to whether a claim falls outside the limitation period. Records are not kept of the number of claims in which the Courts have heard limitation cases in which the Claimant is seeking discretion in the application of the time limit relevant to their claim against the Department.
The proposed civil litigation longstop will not preclude Service personnel or civilians deployed on overseas operations from bringing claims in relation to PTSD or other conditions that manifest or are diagnosed beyond that limit, as Section 11 of the Limitation Act calculates time limits from the later of (a) the date on which the cause of action accrued or (b) the date of knowledge.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether she plans to increase Royal Fleet Auxiliary pay at the same rate as that of the Royal Navy; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary are Civil Servants and are not members of the Armed Forces. Their terms and conditions, including their pay, are subject to civilian rules in the wider public sector. As such, pay is subject to HM Treasury Civil Servant Pay Guidance.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recommendations by the Service Complaints Ombudsman were included in its annual report in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 12 June 2019 to Question 261162.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recommendations by the Service Complaints Ombudsman are under current consideration by her Department.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 12 June 2019 to Question 261162.