Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to review the ex-gratia redundancy scheme for Afghan interpreters.

The National Security Council-agreed Ex-Gratia Redundancy Scheme and the Intimidation Policy for Afghan local staff were announced on 4 June 2013 by the then Secretary of State for Defence. They were developed to express the UK's debt of gratitude to those staff who had supported its effort through the operation, to provide support to any who might face intimidation as a result of their work for the UK, and to recognise the then Afghan President's concern to retain the country's best and brightest citizens in order to help build a more stable and secure Afghanistan. By the end of December 2017, all local staff had been made redundant and some 400 had been relocated to the UK with their families with up to 50 more expected to follow. Others benefited from finance and training packages and from support to deal with intimidation concerns. The arrangements are kept under review in the light of developments in Afghanistan, including independent assurance of the application of the Intimidation Policy.