Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the ARAP eligibility standard operating procedure was first changed to give the relevant Other Government Department the power to reject a member of the Afghan (a) CF 333 and (b) ATF 444 unit applying to the scheme.
Answered by James Heappey
There is no ARAP eligibility standard operating procedure that provides a relevant Other Government Department with the power to reject an application.
When considering Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme applications under Category 4, Ministry of Defence (MoD) caseworkers seek input into decision-making from other parts of the MoD, Other Government Departments and governmental bodies, where they are likely to hold useful information relating to an individual's application.
Every individual application is considered on a case-by-case basis in line with our published ARAP criteria, including applications considered under Category 4.