Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking in response to concerns raised by Gurkha pension campaigners.

I can confirm that the Secretary of State, and I, met with a wide range of Gurkha representative groups and representatives from the Nepali Embassy, including the Nepali Ambassador, on 8th September. We agreed to start a Bilateral Committee to discuss all Gurkha Veteran Welfare issues.The Committee will be an opportunity to discuss Gurkha concerns across the board.

The government agreed to hold a consultation on the implementation of the Indian 7th Central Pay Commission and we will publish our response to this consultation in due course.

It remains this government's view that the pension schemes offered to Gurkha veterans in the past were very fair schemes.