Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many vessels belonging to people smugglers have been apprehended or destroyed in the Mediterranean in 2015.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Since July 2015, the EU Naval Force Operation in the Mediterranean, Operation SOPHIA, has disposed of around 40 migrant boats. Her Majesty's Government does not hold information on the total number of boats destroyed by other European actors operating in the Mediterranean. Figures are correct as at 10 November 2015.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications were submitted from Northern Ireland for the first three tranches of the Armed Forces Covenant (Libor) Fund.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Seven applications were submitted from Northern Ireland for the first three tranches of the fund.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what terms they offered to transfer ownership of the St Lucia barracks in Omagh to the Northern Ireland Executive.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
It is expected that St Lucia Barracks will transfer to the Northern Ireland Executive on freehold terms by summer 2015.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether army veterans based in Northern Ireland will benefit from the £25 million healthcare fund for aged veterans announced in the Budget, and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The UK's ex-Service community is largely elderly; almost half are over age 75 and 64% are over age 65. It is important that this country meets their needs, just as they answered the needs of their country; meeting the call of the nation during the First and Second World Wars, through national service, voluntary enlistment and the reserve forces.
To support this community, £5 million of LIBOR funding has been made available every year for the next five years for any UK veterans who are surviving World War Two veterans, those who undertook National Service and other voluntary enlisted veterans who, by virtue of their age, may need some focused support in relation to their health and social care needs.
The funds will not provide benevolence payments to individuals. Charities can bid for money to provide practical support and/or companionship to this group of veterans to improve their wellbeing. This might also include projects to build or enhance access to centres where elderly veterans can meet, or to promote the education of elderly veterans' needs, research and other support mechanisms.
The Ministry of Defence intends to administer the fund through a dedicated grant scheme. The terms of this scheme are being developed and will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the United Kingdom’s anti-submarine detection capability is adequate to meet current threat levels.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
We have acknowledged that we have a maritime surveillance capability gap following the decision not to bring the Nimrod MRA4 into service. However we have also made it clear that it is one that we have chosen to accept and to mitigate through employment of other assets, as well as through cooperation with allies, who have deployed Maritime Patrol Aircraft on several occasions.
A decision on whether to take further steps to mitigate the gap is planned as part of the next Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the reasons for their decision to extend the operational life of some GR4 Tornado aircraft.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The RAF maintains the flexibility to adapt to a changing world and we have decided that the Tornado GR4 force should sustain three, rather than two, frontline squadrons based out of RAF Marham, for another year beyond 31 March 2015. This is a pragmatic measure to provide resilience during the transition from Tornado to Typhoon. The planned out of service date for the Tornado GR4 fleet remains 2019.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria they use to determine when a member or former member of the armed forces is suffering from post-traumaticstress disorder and is entitled to financial compensation or a pension; and when those criteria were adopted.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) provides compensation for members and former members of the Armed Forces who suffer injury or illness as a result of service from 6 April 2005. Where a discrete mental health disorder is present, a separate award may be payable. The AFCS is tariff based and awards for mental health disorders and does not depend on precise diagnosis but effect on function.
The legislation requires that mental disorders are diagnosed by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist at consultant Grade. Each claimed injury or illness (including mental illness) is investigated to determine if it was predominantly caused by service. If so, it will be matched against the descriptors and corresponding awards in the Tariff.
The AFCS was preceded by the War Pensions Scheme (WPS), which provides no fault compensation to former service personnel and their dependants for injuries and death as a result of service. All decisions are certified by a Medical Adviser and once entitlement has been established, the war pensioner's degree of disablement due to service is assessed – normally as part of the medical certification process. The method of assessment is on an individual basis by comparison of the disabled person with a person of the same age and sex.
Members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) 05, with a recognised diagnosis, will be entitled to an ill-health pension or a tax-free pension lump sum or both, providing they have completed two years qualifying service. The ill-health categories are split into three ill-health award levels and these are allocated by reference to the same tariff levels that are used for the AFCS. Trained lay decision-makers consider each case and will decide on the level of the award as per AFCS.
The AFCS05 was preceded by the AFPS75 which included provision of an occupational entitlement to a Service Invaliding Pension (SIP) calculated on length of reckonable service and the substantive rank held at discharge. Members with at least two years qualifying service have an entitlement to an ill-health award.
If the condition occurred before 6 April 2005 and is considered under the WPS to have been caused by service in the Armed Forces, and the degree of disability assessed as 20% or more, an additional entitlement under the provisions of the Armed Forces Attributable Benefit Scheme (AFAB) will also be considered. AFAB provides a minimum level of income and provides a top-up to the SIP.