Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of removing the cap on compensation for LGBT+ veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Government has accepted the recommendations of the LGBT Veterans Independent Review including the financial award scheme. Defence continues to work at pace with experts across Government and reference other schemes, such as the Canadian scheme, to establish an appropriate scheme for the financial award, and is currently working within the £50 million limit as recommended in the report.
Development of the scheme is at an early stage so the Government cannot yet confirm the details, the expected number of claimants, or the likely size of awards. Defence encourages those affected to register their interest in applying for a financial award by completing the LGBT veterans: support and next steps - GOV.UK webpage. Such registrations of interest will enable us to learn more about the affected community and thereby design the most suitable scheme possible.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if officials in his Department will meet representatives of Fighting with Pride to discuss the experience of LGBT+ veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
There is and has been extensive engagement with Fighting with Pride at official and Ministerial level.
The LGBT Veterans Independent Review provided the opportunity for Defence and the Government to better understand the lived experience of LGBT veterans who served prior to 2000, including how being discharged or dismissed from the military due to their sexuality, affected their life.
Defence will continue to engage with Fighting with Pride and a number of other charities and independent veterans.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of restitution payments made under the LGBT+ Veterans Independent Review.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence continues to work at pace with experts from across Government, and with reference to schemes developed by allies such as Canada, to establish an appropriate scheme for the financial award, working within the £50m limit recommended in Lord Etherton’s Review.
Development of the scheme is at an early stage and therefore Defence cannot yet confirm the details, the expected number of claimants, or the likely size of awards. However, the Government is committed to delivering the report’s recommendation, acknowledging that the process is intricate and must be followed correctly.
Defence will continue to engage with LGBT veterans as plans for the financial award progress. Defence are committed to providing updates on the development of the scheme, including eligibility criteria and the application process, which will be published to the ‘LGBT Veterans: support and next steps’ GOV.UK page as soon as possible.
Ministers are committed to maintaining the momentum of the LGBT Veterans Independent Review and so are exploring the possibility of holding a debate in the House as soon as parliamentary time allows, following publication of the Government response last year.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the review of the provision of non-religious pastoral support to the Armed Forces; and whether he plans to work with Humanists UK and the Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network to accredit humanist and non-religious chaplains to the Armed Forces.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Military Chaplains are professionally qualified to provide pastoral care to everyone, regardless of faith or belief background. However, should a Service person feel uncomfortable with talking to a Chaplain, they are able to seek appropriate professional support from a variety of alternative sources, which can be facilitated by the Chaplain. This includes their Chain of Command, through the Services' professional social workers, medical staff, and dedicated welfare staff. Mutual support is also available via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non-Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.
Having carefully considered whether this provision is adequate and suitably reflects the needs of all our people, we have recently conducted a review of this matter and consider the provision of pastoral care merits enhancement so that we can deliver even better support. Accordingly, we are intending to recruit a non-religious pastoral officer for each of the Armed Services, and are currently working with a range of stakeholders from the within the breadth of the AF community to determine how best to take this forward including how we engage with appropriate professional endorsing bodies.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 23 June 2022 to Questions 21223 and 21225 on Armed Forces: Pastoral Care and the Answer of 23 June 2022 to Question 21224 on Armed Forces: Ministers of Religion and Pastoral Care, if he will place the report of the review into the requirement for the provision of non-religious pastoral support to the armed forces in the Library of the House.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The recommendations of the review are being considered by the Ministry of Defence and remain in use in support of the formulation of Government policy. For this reason, there are no plans to place a copy of the review in the Library of the House at present. When the review is no longer required for live policy formulation, the merits of making it more widely available will be given consideration in due course.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has plans to recruit non-religious chaplains to provide belief-based support for regular and reserve personnel who identify as having no religion.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence has a diverse population, including personnel with a range of beliefs and faith, and those who have no religion. All military Chaplains have long provided pastoral care to those of all faiths and none. In addition, all Service personnel can access pastoral care from a variety of sources, including from within their Chain of Command, through the Services' professional social workers, medical staff, welfare staff and via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.
The Department is working to create and sustain an environment where everyone feels respected and able to achieve their full potential. We have carefully considered the position expressed by Humanists UK on the provision of non-religious pastoral support for our Armed Forces and have recently concluded a review of this matter. We are currently considering the recommendations of that review and how best we can support all our people.
It will take time to collate a detailed breakdown of personnel employed to provide belief-specific pastoral support and chaplaincy care, and I will write in due course.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are employed in (a) the armed forces and (b) his Department to provide belief specific pastoral support and chaplaincy care to members of (i) non-religious, (ii) Baha’i, (iii) Buddhism, (iv) Hinduism, (v) Islam, (vi) Jainism, (vii) Judaism, (viii) Rastafarianism, (ix) Sikhism, (x) Zoroastrianism, (xi) Anglicanism, (xii) Roman Catholicism, (xiii) Methodism and (xiv) other Christian religion and belief groups.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence has a diverse population, including personnel with a range of beliefs and faith, and those who have no religion. All military Chaplains have long provided pastoral care to those of all faiths and none. In addition, all Service personnel can access pastoral care from a variety of sources, including from within their Chain of Command, through the Services' professional social workers, medical staff, welfare staff and via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.
The Department is working to create and sustain an environment where everyone feels respected and able to achieve their full potential. We have carefully considered the position expressed by Humanists UK on the provision of non-religious pastoral support for our Armed Forces and have recently concluded a review of this matter. We are currently considering the recommendations of that review and how best we can support all our people.
It will take time to collate a detailed breakdown of personnel employed to provide belief-specific pastoral support and chaplaincy care, and I will write in due course.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Humanists UK’s submission to the call for evidence on the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, dated September 2020, on the provision of non-religious pastoral support to armed forces personnel.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence has a diverse population, including personnel with a range of beliefs and faith, and those who have no religion. All military Chaplains have long provided pastoral care to those of all faiths and none. In addition, all Service personnel can access pastoral care from a variety of sources, including from within their Chain of Command, through the Services' professional social workers, medical staff, welfare staff and via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.
The Department is working to create and sustain an environment where everyone feels respected and able to achieve their full potential. We have carefully considered the position expressed by Humanists UK on the provision of non-religious pastoral support for our Armed Forces and have recently concluded a review of this matter. We are currently considering the recommendations of that review and how best we can support all our people.
It will take time to collate a detailed breakdown of personnel employed to provide belief-specific pastoral support and chaplaincy care, and I will write in due course.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions Ministers have used armed services transport in the last 12 months, by department; and what the cost has been of military flights taken by Ministers in the last 12 months.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave on 4 February 2019 to Question 10394 to the hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Deidre Brock).
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the protocol for armed services facilities being used for Ministerial transport; and whether he plans to review that protocol.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The information requested is contained in Defence Instruction and Notice 2018DIN03-002, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House. These instructions were issued in 2018. We expect to review them shortly.