Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will review the Royal Navy’s policy on retrospective medical discharge to ensure Royal Navy veterans are not disadvantaged due to their service, in line with the Armed Forces Covenant compared to service in the Royal Air Force or the Army.

Royal Navy veterans are not disadvantaged due to their Service compared to Army or Royal Air Force veterans, in respect of retrospective medical discharge.

Medical discharge policy is delegated to the single Services to provide each branch of the Armed Forces the necessary flexibility to respond effectively to the unique and varying environments in which their people are employed. While this does mean variations between Services exist, all Service Personnel across the three Services, be they serving or veteran, are able to challenge the nature of their discharge and, equally, are subject to timeline constraints in which to do so.