Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the amount of compensation available to LGBT veterans following the LGBT Veterans Independent Review, published in May 2023.

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.

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.