Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on (a) the number of veterans with PTSD and (b) how many were diagnosed (i) before and (ii) after they left the Armed Forces.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence does not collect or hold information on all veterans and cannot say how many have a diagnosis of PTSD.
The number of personnel medically discharged with PTSD listed as a principal or contributory cause can be found at; https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/medical-discharges-among-uk-service-personnel-statistics-index
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to ensuring that the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) delivers for those who make a claim and there are mechanisms of assessment and accountability in place to ensure that this is the case.
The AFCS Quinquennial Review (QQR) takes place every five years to ensure the AFCS remains fit for purpose and to identify opportunities for improvement. The final report was published today:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quinquennial-review-of-the-armed-forces-compensation-scheme-2023-headline-findings-and-progress-report
The MOD will consider the recommendations of the AFCS QQR, and the Government's response will be published later this year.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the use of food banks by former service personnel who were medically-discharged in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not collect or hold information on the use of food banks by either current military or civilian personnel, or by Armed Forces veterans. Any decision to use a food bank is a private and personal matter for the individual concerned.
To support those leaving Service, including those medically discharged, the MOD provides points of contact for veterans who are facing challenges when transitioning back into civilian life. The Defence Holistic Transition Policy was introduced to support a whole range of life-changing issues, which affect both the Service Person and their immediate family upon leaving the Services. This could include help with life's basic needs such as registering with a doctor or a dentist, or it could be much more intensive for those with complex needs (including housing, budgeting, debt, wellbeing, and children's education).
Defence Transition Services (DTS), which is part of the MOD's Veterans UK, was established at the same time as the transition policy to provide information and support for those service leavers and their families who are most likely to face challenges as they leave the Armed Forces and adjust to civilian life: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-and-support-for-service-leavers-and-their-families. DTS will be there as a safety net for up to two years after leaving Service, and self-referrals can be made through the gov.uk website or by contacting Veterans UK direct.
In addition, the Veterans Welfare Service, part of Veterans UK, provides telephone and face to face assistance from four UK welfare centres to veterans in need of support: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/veterans-welfare-service
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what formal assessment his Department undertook prior to the removal of 300 jobs from the MOD Cheadle Hulme site at Dairy House Lane; what process was followed; how the decision was determined; what procedure was used to notify the affected individuals; what procedure was adapted regarding the notification of the hon. Member for Tatton; and what reasons the hon. Member for Tatton was not notified of that decision.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The decision to rehome Defence Business Services (DBS), who currently occupy the Cheadle Hulme site, to new facilities was first announced in Parliament on 24 March 16 (statement UIN HCWS659). The disposal was also included in the Better Defence Estate announcement published in November 2016, which is being delivered by the Defence Estate Optimisation (DEO) Portfolio, and letters were sent to local MPs. DEO will deliver a better structured, more economical and modern estate that more effectively supports defence capability.
The intent remains to dispose of the site, and over the past year DBS has been assessing where to locate the c300 posts currently working from Cheadle Hulme as part of a workplace Programme to consolidate its three North West sites. This work continues.
Trade Unions have been kept informed throughout the process, and a series of meetings have been held to inform all affected staff. These will continue, and local MPs will be notified at the conclusion of this Programme, which is currently scheduled to be in early 2022.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to his Department for financial year 2018-19 for planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how much of that funding has been spent.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Her Majesty's Treasury has already allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to Departments and the devolved administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This includes the £1.5 billion of additional funding HM Treasury announced at Autumn Budget 2017 for 2018/19. A full breakdown of how this was allocated to Departments can be found in the Chief Secretary's Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on 13 March 2018.
(https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/).
The Ministry of Defence has been allocated £12.7 million in 2018-19 for essential EU exit preparations. As with all HMT Reserve funding, finalised allocations will be confirmed at Supplementary Estimates 2018-19 in early 2019.