Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of removing the cap on compensation for LGBT+ veterans.

The Government has accepted the recommendations of the LGBT Veterans Independent Review including the financial award scheme. Defence continues to work at pace with experts across Government and reference other schemes, such as the Canadian scheme, to establish an appropriate scheme for the financial award, and is currently working within the £50 million limit as recommended in the report.

Development of the scheme is at an early stage so the Government cannot yet confirm the details, the expected number of claimants, or the likely size of awards. Defence encourages those affected to register their interest in applying for a financial award by completing the LGBT veterans: support and next steps - GOV.UK webpage. Such registrations of interest will enable us to learn more about the affected community and thereby design the most suitable scheme possible.