Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Oral statement by the Minister for Defence People and Families of 13 December 2023 on the LGBT Veterans Independent Review, Official Report, column 904, what his assessment is of the difference between a (a) financial awards scheme and (b) compensation 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, working within the £50 million limit recommended in the independent review.

Defence is still considering how to best implement the recommendation; no specific decision has yet been taken about the mechanism for this, and development of the scheme is at an early stage. Defence cannot yet confirm the details, the expected number of claimants, its eligibility and application process, 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.

In the meantime, Defence will continue to engage with stakeholders, including LGBT veterans, as plans for the financial award progress and is committed to providing updates on the development of the scheme; eligibility criteria; and information on the application process on the ‘LGBT Veterans: support and next steps’ GOV.UK page as soon as possible: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/lgbt-veterans-support-and-next-steps