Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was provided for Op Restore in 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Planned spend on Op RESTORE for 2023/24 is £0.5 million. Additional costs associated with treatment costs form part of overall expenditure within integrated care boards and are not separately identified.
Op NOVA launched on 1 April 2023. Planned spend on Op NOVA for 2023/24 is £2.03 million.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to invite all Nuclear Test Veteran charities to a reception in November 2023.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Government is committed to recognising the contributions of Nuclear Test Veterans.
That is why the Prime Minister announced the creation of the Nuclear Test Medal in November 2022, and the government delivered on its promise that those veterans who had applied would receive their medals in time for Remembrance Sunday.
I am delighted to confirm that I will be hosting a reception on 28 November for a small cohort of the first veteran recipients of the medal. Due to limited capacity, we have prioritised inviting veterans in order to honour and recognise the contribution of those who served at the time.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans were consulted as part of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Quinquennial Review 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) compensates for any injury, illness or death which was caused by service on or after 6 April 2005. Both currently Serving personnel and veterans are eligible to apply.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring that the 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 full report can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quinquennial-review-of-the-armed-forces-compensation-scheme-2023-headline-findings-and-progress-report
Annex B of the AFCS QQR report sets out a list of stakeholder organisations, groups and individuals consulted. There were a total of 105 respondents, including eight AFCS recipients as well as representatives from charities such as Blesma, COBSEO and the Royal British Legion amongst others.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what data his Department holds on the number of veterans who attended each focus group that contributed to the independent review of UK Government welfare services for veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As part of the Independent Review of UK Veterans Welfare Services, the Review team held various focus groups with veterans and charities. These events were run online and through in-person visits accompanied by the relevant Veterans Commissioner. Groups were small to maximise engagement and due to the tight timeframes within which to set up the events.
In-person events were held in Brecon, Edinburgh, Belfast, Salisbury and at the Ilford Park Polish Home in Devon. Numbers for each visit varied and ranged from between 15 to 30 people, giving a total of around 100. To maintain confidentiality, specific details of each veteran attending was not captured, and therefore the Ministry of Defence does not hold precise numbers of veterans who attended each group.
Written and/or verbal input was received from 11 charities:
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many charities submitted written responses to the independent review of UK Government welfare services for veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As part of the Independent Review of UK Veterans Welfare Services, the Review team held various focus groups with veterans and charities. These events were run online and through in-person visits accompanied by the relevant Veterans Commissioner. Groups were small to maximise engagement and due to the tight timeframes within which to set up the events.
In-person events were held in Brecon, Edinburgh, Belfast, Salisbury and at the Ilford Park Polish Home in Devon. Numbers for each visit varied and ranged from between 15 to 30 people, giving a total of around 100. To maintain confidentiality, specific details of each veteran attending was not captured, and therefore the Ministry of Defence does not hold precise numbers of veterans who attended each group.
Written and/or verbal input was received from 11 charities:
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which charities submitted written responses to the independent review of UK Government welfare services for veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As part of the Independent Review of UK Veterans Welfare Services, the Review team held various focus groups with veterans and charities. These events were run online and through in-person visits accompanied by the relevant Veterans Commissioner. Groups were small to maximise engagement and due to the tight timeframes within which to set up the events.
In-person events were held in Brecon, Edinburgh, Belfast, Salisbury and at the Ilford Park Polish Home in Devon. Numbers for each visit varied and ranged from between 15 to 30 people, giving a total of around 100. To maintain confidentiality, specific details of each veteran attending was not captured, and therefore the Ministry of Defence does not hold precise numbers of veterans who attended each group.
Written and/or verbal input was received from 11 charities:
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the focus groups for the independent review of UK Government welfare services for veterans were held.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As part of the Independent Review of UK Veterans Welfare Services, the Review team held various focus groups with veterans and charities. These events were run online and through in-person visits accompanied by the relevant Veterans Commissioner. Groups were small to maximise engagement and due to the tight timeframes within which to set up the events.
In-person events were held in Brecon, Edinburgh, Belfast, Salisbury and at the Ilford Park Polish Home in Devon. Numbers for each visit varied and ranged from between 15 to 30 people, giving a total of around 100. To maintain confidentiality, specific details of each veteran attending was not captured, and therefore the Ministry of Defence does not hold precise numbers of veterans who attended each group.
Written and/or verbal input was received from 11 charities:
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much government funding was allocated to delivery of the Veterans' Gateway in (a) 2019, (b) 2019, (c) 2020, (d) 2021, (e) 2022 and (f) 2023.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Veterans' Gateway is a first point of contact for UK armed forces veterans, and their families, providing veterans with support, including across housing, employment, finances and their wellbeing.
The service has historically been operated by a consortium of members of the charitable sector, backed by £2.75 million from the Government.
Earlier this year it was announced that we have launched a refresh of the Veterans’ Gateway, with the service to be run by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, at the heart of government, next year.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 193037 on Universal Credit: Armed Forces, how many Universal Credit claimants have been identified as (a) serving and (b) having served in the armed forces by local authority area for the most recent assessment period.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.
Data coverage continues to improve over time and by September 2023 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 67% of the GB UC caseload (see table below). It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.
Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.
The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded are not representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.
The separate spreadsheet shows how many claimants on the September 2023 UC caseload had a recorded armed forces status of each type, broken down by Local Authority.
Spreadsheet Notes:
1. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland. The figures provided only relate to Great Britain.
2. Figures in the table have been rounded according to the Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy.
3. In line with the latest published People on UC official statistics, provisional figures relating to September 2023 are provided and may be subject to retrospective changes as more up-to-date data becomes available or if methodological improvements are made.
4. Due to methodological improvements, these figures are based on the Official Statistics UC caseload definition. Some answers to previous PQs asking for similar information have used an alternative caseload definition based on assessment period end dates.
5. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) veterans and (b) family members of veterans have received the Nuclear Test Medal.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 8 November 2023, 1,684 Nuclear Test Medals had been dispatched to veterans, and 14 to next of kin.
Of the cases assessed, a further 33 veterans are eligible for the Nuclear Test Medal, and 699 next of kin.
There are currently 439 veteran and 648 next of kin cases still to be assessed. Initial priority was given to veterans who had applied prior to 18 September 2023, with applications from those over 90 and/or the terminally ill reviewed first.