Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to amend the compensation tariffs within the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme to include chronic pain as a separate condition.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme makes awards for injuries and illnesses due to service. The Scheme tariff has nine tables of payable categories including Physical Disorders in table four. Conditions in this table are listed generically, not by specific diagnosis, with corresponding award based on the severity and duration of the functional restriction or limitation. Compensation for chronic pain may be paid under the existing tariff, both where treatment of the underlying condition adequately addresses the pain and its impact, and where pain breaks through despite appropriate treatment, and is claimed as a separate condition.