Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many claims have been made against UK (a) servicemen and (b) servicewomen in the past twenty-five years.

It is not possible to answer the right hon. Member's question put which asks how many claims, which for the purposes of this response are deemed to be common law claims for damages, have been made against UK servicemen and servicewomen in the last 25 years without exceeding the disproportionate cost limit. It is usual practice for claimants, or solicitors acting on their behalf, in pursuance of common law claims for damages that allege negligence on the part of UK service personnel to bring the claim against the Ministry of Defence or the Secretary of State for Defence rather than an individual UK serviceman or service woman. The Ministry of Defence would not necessarily be made aware of any common law claim for damages brought against an individual UK serviceman or UK servicewoman. Whilst some information is held relating to the question posed, that information is not sufficient to enable the provision of a response to this question. The Department does not record separately information that would serve to confirm the causative nature of the incident that gives rise to individual claims or gender specific information that would enable a determination as to whether it was the alleged negligent action of a UK serviceman or UK servicewoman that caused the incident and therefore it is not possible to determine which of those claims received during the past 25 years arose out of the alleged negligent actions of a UK serviceman or UK servicewoman without reviewing all of the common law claims for damages received in that period.