Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many HIV positive service people were dismissed from the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) Air force in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2022, 30 UK Regular Armed Forces personnel were medically discharged with an ICD-10 code for HIV cited as the principal or contributory cause. Both principal and contributory causes have been included as it is possible for personnel to be medically discharged for multiple medical reasons. Of the 30 personnel, 24 were Army personnel. The number of Royal Navy and RAF personnel were fewer than five respectively.
Figures include trained and untrained UK Regular personnel; Reserve personnel are excluded. Army Regular personnel include Gurkha and the Military Provost Guard Service. Royal Navy personnel includes both Royal Navy and Royal Marines. In line with Joint Service Publication 200, figures fewer than five have been suppressed.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether recompense has been made to those who lost their pensions, medals and status as a result of being dishonourably discharged due to their sexual orientation during 1980-2000.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Ministry of Defence and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs within the Cabinet Office are jointly commissioning an independent review to better understand the impacts and implications of the pre 2000 ban on homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces. The review underlines Defence’s unwavering commitment to understanding how best to support its veteran and LGBT+ community. Defence recognises and accepts that its historic policies were unacceptable and that its LGBT+ veteran community suffered as a consequence.
The scope of those dishonourably discharged due to their sexual orientation is currently unknown and a cross-departmental programme of work is underway to better understand the size of the affected cohort. Defence expects the review will provide further context and insights into the lived experience of our veteran community and allow us to take effective and genuine steps towards a more inclusive future for all.
Work is currently underway to appoint an independent review chair and the independent review is expected to commence in the near future following their appointment. The independent review chair and the terms of reference for the review will be announced in due course. The independent review team can be contacted via email: Lgbtveteransreview@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Defence is proactively working with the Home Office to enable more veterans to apply for a disregard of service convictions relating to sexuality. We have also introduced policy allowing veterans to apply for restoration of medals forfeited upon dismissal based on sexuality. To date, seven applications have been received and one veteran has had their medals restored. The other cases remain under review in light of the recent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Every case has required careful consideration of the circumstances and reference to contemporary records – some from several decades ago. We invite any personnel who were discharged from service due to their sexuality, to apply to have their forfeited medals restored by visiting: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/military-awards-commemorations
We take the wellbeing of all those who have served extremely seriously and are determined that the Armed Forces Covenant is upheld, meaning those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, are treated fairly and all veterans, irrespective of when they served and how they left the Services are entitled to access the provisions of the Covenant. Former service personnel can access specialist medical care from the NHS, and every part of the UK now has a dedicated mental health service for veterans. Veterans can also call the Defence-funded 24-hour helpline, the Veterans’ Gateway, in times of need: https://www.veteransgateway.org.uk (0808 802 1212)
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what penalties were imposed on armed forces personnel who were dishonourably discharged because of their sexual orientation between 1980 and 2000.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Ministry of Defence and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs within the Cabinet Office are jointly commissioning an independent review to better understand the impacts and implications of the pre 2000 ban on homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces. The review underlines Defence’s unwavering commitment to understanding how best to support its veteran and LGBT+ community. Defence recognises and accepts that its historic policies were unacceptable and that its LGBT+ veteran community suffered as a consequence.
The scope of those dishonourably discharged due to their sexual orientation is currently unknown and a cross-departmental programme of work is underway to better understand the size of the affected cohort. Defence expects the review will provide further context and insights into the lived experience of our veteran community and allow us to take effective and genuine steps towards a more inclusive future for all.
Work is currently underway to appoint an independent review chair and the independent review is expected to commence in the near future following their appointment. The independent review chair and the terms of reference for the review will be announced in due course. The independent review team can be contacted via email: Lgbtveteransreview@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Defence is proactively working with the Home Office to enable more veterans to apply for a disregard of service convictions relating to sexuality. We have also introduced policy allowing veterans to apply for restoration of medals forfeited upon dismissal based on sexuality. To date, seven applications have been received and one veteran has had their medals restored. The other cases remain under review in light of the recent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Every case has required careful consideration of the circumstances and reference to contemporary records – some from several decades ago. We invite any personnel who were discharged from service due to their sexuality, to apply to have their forfeited medals restored by visiting: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/military-awards-commemorations
We take the wellbeing of all those who have served extremely seriously and are determined that the Armed Forces Covenant is upheld, meaning those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, are treated fairly and all veterans, irrespective of when they served and how they left the Services are entitled to access the provisions of the Covenant. Former service personnel can access specialist medical care from the NHS, and every part of the UK now has a dedicated mental health service for veterans. Veterans can also call the Defence-funded 24-hour helpline, the Veterans’ Gateway, in times of need: https://www.veteransgateway.org.uk (0808 802 1212)
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel were dishonourably discharged between 1980 and 2000 because of their sexual orientation.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Ministry of Defence and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs within the Cabinet Office are jointly commissioning an independent review to better understand the impacts and implications of the pre 2000 ban on homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces. The review underlines Defence’s unwavering commitment to understanding how best to support its veteran and LGBT+ community. Defence recognises and accepts that its historic policies were unacceptable and that its LGBT+ veteran community suffered as a consequence.
The scope of those dishonourably discharged due to their sexual orientation is currently unknown and a cross-departmental programme of work is underway to better understand the size of the affected cohort. Defence expects the review will provide further context and insights into the lived experience of our veteran community and allow us to take effective and genuine steps towards a more inclusive future for all.
Work is currently underway to appoint an independent review chair and the independent review is expected to commence in the near future following their appointment. The independent review chair and the terms of reference for the review will be announced in due course. The independent review team can be contacted via email: Lgbtveteransreview@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Defence is proactively working with the Home Office to enable more veterans to apply for a disregard of service convictions relating to sexuality. We have also introduced policy allowing veterans to apply for restoration of medals forfeited upon dismissal based on sexuality. To date, seven applications have been received and one veteran has had their medals restored. The other cases remain under review in light of the recent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Every case has required careful consideration of the circumstances and reference to contemporary records – some from several decades ago. We invite any personnel who were discharged from service due to their sexuality, to apply to have their forfeited medals restored by visiting: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/military-awards-commemorations
We take the wellbeing of all those who have served extremely seriously and are determined that the Armed Forces Covenant is upheld, meaning those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, are treated fairly and all veterans, irrespective of when they served and how they left the Services are entitled to access the provisions of the Covenant. Former service personnel can access specialist medical care from the NHS, and every part of the UK now has a dedicated mental health service for veterans. Veterans can also call the Defence-funded 24-hour helpline, the Veterans’ Gateway, in times of need: https://www.veteransgateway.org.uk (0808 802 1212)
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the chair of the independent review into the impact of the pre-2000 ban of homosexual personnel in the military will be appointed, and the remit of that group agreed.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Defence remains proud of all our LGBT+ military and civilian personnel and the significant contributions they make to ensure our security, support our national interests, and safeguard our prosperity. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs are jointly commissioning an independent review to better understand the impacts and implications of the pre-2000 ban on homosexuals serving in HM Armed Forces. The review underlines the MOD’s unwavering commitment to understanding how best to support its veteran and LGBT+ community. Work is currently underway to appoint an independent review chair and the independent review is expected to commence in the near future, following their appointment. The independent review chair and the terms of reference for the review will be announced in due course.