Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans are awaiting compensation for PTSD-related claims; and what steps he is taking to expedite those claims.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The information is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
However, it may be helpful to note that War Pension Scheme (WPS) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) claims are not categorised by condition on receipt. It is not possible to determine if a claim received for a mental health condition will be accepted for compensation under either scheme until medical review of all evidence in the final stage of consideration and decision making.
Defence Statistics Health publish statistics on claims and awards made under the WPS and AFCS. The latest WPS publication presents statistics as at 31 March 2024 and can be found on the gov.uk website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index
The latest AFCS publication presents statistics as at 31 March 2024 which was published on the gov.uk website on 18 July 2024:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/armed-forces-compensation-scheme-statistics-index
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) aims to consider all claims under the WPS AFCS as efficiently and as quickly as possible so as not to cause undue delay and stress. Alongside Service evidence, it is often necessary to obtain medical records and case notes from the individual's civilian general practitioner and/or other medical providers. Awaiting the return of those records does take time and, regrettably, this is something MOD officials have no influence over.
The MOD's own working practices are regularly reviewed to positively impact claim processing times for both schemes' claimants. As part of ongoing modernisation, new automated processes are currently being implemented to reduce processing times, as well as a new training programme to enhance caseworker knowledge and skills to further improve confidence and processing of claims.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support female veterans.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government will always stand up for those who have served our country, and I am leading work across Government and with civil society to look at the best ways to ensure all veterans, including women veterans, get access to the support and opportunities they need and deserve.
Women are a crucial part of the Armed Forces community, both through the value of their service and their contribution to society as veterans. This year, we will set out our plans for all veterans in our updated Veterans’ Strategy. This updated strategy will include a specific female veterans section.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take to reduce the time taken for compensation processing for veterans with PTSD-related claims.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The information is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
However, it may be helpful to note that War Pension Scheme (WPS) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) claims are not categorised by condition on receipt. It is not possible to determine if a claim received for a mental health condition will be accepted for compensation under either scheme until medical review of all evidence in the final stage of consideration and decision making.
Defence Statistics Health publish statistics on claims and awards made under the WPS and AFCS. The latest WPS publication presents statistics as at 31 March 2024 and can be found on the gov.uk website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index
The latest AFCS publication presents statistics as at 31 March 2024 which was published on the gov.uk website on 18 July 2024:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/armed-forces-compensation-scheme-statistics-index
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) aims to consider all claims under the WPS AFCS as efficiently and as quickly as possible so as not to cause undue delay and stress. Alongside Service evidence, it is often necessary to obtain medical records and case notes from the individual's civilian general practitioner and/or other medical providers. Awaiting the return of those records does take time and, regrettably, this is something MOD officials have no influence over.
The MOD's own working practices are regularly reviewed to positively impact claim processing times for both schemes' claimants. As part of ongoing modernisation, new automated processes are currently being implemented to reduce processing times, as well as a new training programme to enhance caseworker knowledge and skills to further improve confidence and processing of claims.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2024 to Question 21064 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, what estimate he has made of the annual value of the rotary wing transport being provided under the Commercial Transport Contract; from which departmental budget it will be funded; and whether the existing budget is the same budget as for the previous contract.
Answered by Maria Eagle
Ministry of Defence future use of the Commercial Air Transport Contract has been assessed and will be significantly cheaper than the cancelled Future Rotary Wing Command Support Air Transport contract. Individual user budgets will pay for use under the Ministerial Air Transport Office managed Commercial Air Transport Contract, as is normal for transportation costs; as a result it will not be from the same budget as the Command Support Air Transport contract.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2024, to Question 21064, on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, whether senior leaders who will have access to the helicopter service include (a) Ministers, (b) Members of the Royal Family and (c) senior officers.
Answered by Maria Eagle
Under the Commercial Air Transport Contract, Ministry of Defence Ministers, senior Department officials and senior officers will have access to helicopter transport. The Royal Household make independent arrangements for Royal Helicopter transport.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 7009 on Ministry of Defence: Official Cars, if he will publish a list of senior officials with access to a government car.
Answered by Maria Eagle
For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.
The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question 7008 on Ministry of Defence: Official Cars, how many of those vehicles are electric.
Answered by Maria Eagle
For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.
The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) his officials have held with external stakeholders since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on the allocation of Government Car Service cars to senior officials; what the policy was on 24 May 2024; and which senior officials have been granted access to the service since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to Government Departments as a shared resource. Each Department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles. The arrangements relating to the using of vehicles in the Government Car Service is set out in the Civil Service Management Code. There has been no change in this policy since the General Election.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 6 September 2024 to Questions 2306 and 2308 on Ministers: Official Cars, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have (i) been allocated a dedicated vehicle and (ii) access to use of a shared vehicle from the Government Car Service; what the (A) make, (B) model and (C) fuel type is for each car; and what the budget was for those cars in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to Government Departments as a shared resource. Each Department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles to its Ministerial cadre/officials, as under previous administrations.
The Ministry of Defence is currently allocated 18 vehicles including allocated and shared vehicles. For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The average cost to a Department for a single Department Pool Car in 2024-25 financial year is £108,000 per annum.