Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme reviews were outstanding as of 5 July 2024; how many remain outstanding; what steps he is taking to reduce the backlog; and what the average time is for processing a review.

On 1 July 2025, I announced the closure of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme to new applicants via Written Ministerial Statement (Hansard Link: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-07-01/hcws763). Four years on from the scheme’s launch and with over 95% of first-time applications now found ineligible, the time was right. Closing the scheme will also allow the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to process all outstanding applications and focus on supporting those already in the pipeline to restart their lives in the UK as soon as possible.

Two Reviews exist in the ARAP scheme, the Review that follows an ARAP ineligible decision and the Review that follows the rejection or partial rejection of an Additional Family Members application.

On 1 July 2024, 1,514 ARAP Reviews remained outstanding, and 387 AFM Reviews remained outstanding. The current number of outstanding applications is, as of 17 July 2025, is 1,033 ARAP Reviews and 280 AFM Reviews. The mean average time for all ARAP and AFM reviews, closed with a decision made, as 17 July 2025, is 194 days for ARAP reviews and 297 days for AFM reviews.

This Government inherited a large proportion of these cases from the previous administration, and I am determined that every outstanding case will be addressed as soon as possible. From the autumn, I will be introducing new key performance indicators for the ARAP caseload. This will help people understand where they stand in the process - and when they should receive a decision. To help support this work the MOD is also recruiting additional caseworkers to ensure cases are processed as swiftly as possible.