Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many spouses of deceased armed forces personnel have been taxed on their Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments in each of the last five years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
There are several types of support available to spouses of deceased armed forces personnel through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. The tax treatment depends on the type of support.
The Government has published statistics on claims and awards made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme which can be found in the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) annual bulletin published 6 July 2023. However, the Government does not collect the data on how many spouses have been taxed on payments made through the ACFS because the tax position depends on the individual’s circumstances.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many war widows had their war pensions wrongly classed as taxable income in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022; and how many times his Department has been asked to rectify their records accordingly in this time period.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I can confirm that the War Widow Pension has not been taxable since 1979 as per Section 639 of the Income Tax (earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.
Any tax wrongly applied to the payment would be as a result of a tax code provided by HMRC, which is responsible for correcting any tax records.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to provide compensation to all those who were affected by the ban on LGBT people in the armed forces.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence and the Office for Veterans' Affairs jointly commissioned the LGBT veterans independent review to better understand the impacts and implications of the pre-2000 policy relating to homosexual people serving in HM Armed Forces. The review underlines Defence's unwavering commitment to understanding how best to support its veteran and LGBT community.
The review was published on 19 July 2023 and among its recommendations is one which suggests a financial award. Defence has accepted the recommendation, noting that such schemes take time to establish. Further detail on eligibility will be included in the implementation plan, which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the comments by the Minister for Veterans' Affairs in The Guardian and other media on 4 July 2023 resulted in complaints to his Department.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The requested information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Complaints, from both internal and external parties, can be received at many levels within the Department, and at varying degrees of formality, which are not collated centrally. The exercise required to retrieve this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Scottish Government on (a) immigration, (b) asylum seekers and (c) refugees.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Immigration is a reserved matter and representatives from across Government meet with their counterparts and will continue to do so as part of regular engagement with the Devolved Administrations.
The Home Secretary chaired the Home Office's Inter Ministerial Group with the Devolved Administrations on 11th July 2023, where one of the items for discussion was the Illegal Migration Bill.
From 13 April 2022, all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are considered a dispersal area and will need to take part in asylum dispersal. This is to ensure a fair and equitable accommodation spread of asylum seekers across the UK. We have agreed targets for every local authority and region in the UK to deliver by the end of 2023. The latest published Home Office figures from 31st March 2023 show that Midlothian has one asylum dispersal accommodation.
The SNP Government are accommodating 4.6% of the total asylum population being accommodated in the UK, when Scotland makes up 8.2% of the UK population.
If you would like to put forward specific proposals, please do contact the Home Office at: rasiengagementhubregionalconsultation@homeoffice.gov.uk and officials will happily discuss this in greater detail with you.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the Government (a) issuing an official apology and (b) providing compensation to Britain's nuclear test veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Government continues to recognise and be grateful to all Service personnel who participated in the British Nuclear testing programme. They contributed to keeping our nation secure during the Cold War and since, by ensuring that the UK was equipped with an appropriate nuclear capability
A commemorative Nuclear Test Medal was announced by the Prime Minister in November 2022, to recognise Service veterans and civilian personnel who participated in the UK’s atmospheric nuclear test programme between 1952 and 1967.
Since the 1980’s, the Ministry of Defence has commissioned and published four independently-conducted and analysed longitudinal studies of 20,000 Nuclear Test Veterans. These compared cancer and mortality rates between Nuclear Test Veterans and age- and gender-matched contemporary control groups, both within the UK Armed Forces and the general population. The results of these studies have consistently demonstrated that cancer and mortality rates for the Nuclear Test Veterans are similar to those serving contemporaneously in the UK Armed Forces who did not participate in the testing programme, and lower than for the general population.
Any veteran, including those of the Nuclear Tests, who believes they have suffered ill-health due to service has the right to apply for no-fault compensation under the War Pension Scheme if they served before 6 April 2005. War pensions are payable in respect of illness or injury as a result of service in the Armed Forces, with the benefit of reasonable doubt always given to the claimant. Decisions are medically certified and follow consideration of available service and medical evidence and carry full rights of appeal to an independent Tribunal.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what data his Department holds on the number and proportion of veterans who were involved in Britain’s nuclear testing programme in (a) Australia, (b) the South Pacific and (c) elsewhere between 1952 and 1967 who have been diagnosed as (i) being infertile and (ii) having fertility problems.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not collect or hold data monitoring the fertility of veterans. Since 1948, it has been the policy of successive Governments that the National Health Service in England and the Devolved Administrations is responsible for healthcare provision for veterans.
The MOD does hold War Disablement Pension files which are created when an individual is either medically discharged or submits a claim under the War Pension Scheme. These can contain discharge information, medical reports, service record documentation and various administrative papers. Case papers, for example additional medical reports and claims, are then added to the file when received. However, the information within these individual paper files is not stored centrally.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will meet nuclear test veterans to discuss their concerns.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I or the Secretary of State for Defence will meet with nuclear test veterans to discuss their concerns.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support armed forces personnel with increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We have introduced a full range of measures to support our people coping with the cost of living, including capping subsidised accommodation charge increases to 1%; increasing travel allowances by 7% and over 32,000 Service personnel have received a Contribution in Lieu of Council Tax (CILOCT) rebate of £150. The Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) also delivered a £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households, to help with energy bills and families can save around £3,400 per child per year through our wraparound childcare.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department (a) is taking steps to (i) monitor and (ii) regulate and (b) has made a recent assessment of the implications for her policies of the development of artificial consciousness technology.
Answered by Paul Scully
The AI Regulation White Paper proposes a proportionate, collaborative approach to AI regulation, and aims to promote innovation while protecting the UK’s values. Our approach is designed to ensure the Government is able to adapt and respond to the risks and opportunities that emerge as the technology develops at pace.
It is important to distinguish between AI as we define and understand it today, and concepts such as Artificial Consciousness and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). As our AI Regulation White Paper sets out, AI systems are ‘trained’ – once or continually – and operate by inferring patterns and connections in data which are not always easily discernible to humans. This includes a spectrum of AI systems that perform specific and less-specific tasks, and includes forms of generative AI that are in use and under development currently. This is not the same as AGI, and there are different views amongst experts regarding the feasibility and timescales associated with AGI becoming a reality. Whilst people have argued that AGI and Artificial Consciousness are theoretically possible, many researchers disagree.
The Government is working with international partners to understand emerging technologies and AI trends, while promoting the UK’s values, including through key multilateral fora, such as the OECD, the G7, the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), the Council of Europe, and UNESCO, and through bilateral relationships.
The AI Regulation White Paper proposes a range of new central functions, including a horizon scanning function intended to support the anticipation assessment of emerging risks. This will complement the existing work undertaken by regulators and other government departments to identify and address risks arising from AI.
As set out in the white paper, the Government will continue to convene a wide range of stakeholders – including frontier researchers from industry – to ensure that we hear the full spectrum of viewpoints.