Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Departments plans to implement all recommendations in the LGBT Veterans Independent Review, published on 19 July 2023; what his planned timetable is for the implementation of recommendations; and how much compensation he plans to provide to affected people.

The Government acknowledges the historic policy prohibiting homosexuality in the Armed Forces was regrettable, wrong and completely unacceptable. The treatment of LGBT Serving personnel between 1967 and 2000 was wholly unacceptable and does not reflect today’s Armed Forces.

All 49 recommendations made in Lord Etherton’s report have been accepted and to date, 32 of the 49 recommendations have already been implemented, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to supporting our veterans and the LGBT+ community. Full details about these recommendations and the non-financial restorative measures already available can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lgbt-veterans-apply-for-restorative-measures

Lord Etherton’s report demonstrated the broad range of ways that personnel were impacted by the Ban. The financial redress scheme has been designed with this in mind, intending to provide a sense of closure to all those affected. Defence has worked with experts across Government to design an appropriate scheme where applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis, enabling appropriate distribution of the available funds. Defence cannot confirm the estimated number of applicants, nor the average payment amounts that can be expected.

The Government will continue to finalise the details of the scheme and is committed to providing an update as soon as possible. Further updates on the development of the financial redress scheme will be added to the LGBT Veterans: Support and next steps GOV.UK page:   https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/lgbt-veterans-support-and-next-steps

I hope this helps explain Defence’s position and reassures you that we are committed to welcoming back LGBT veterans into the Armed Forces community, where they have always belonged.