Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many outstanding pre-Belfast Agreement 1998 Northern Ireland legacy civil claims against the Ministry of Defence are currently in progress; how much has been paid in settlements or damages in such cases in each of the previous five complete years; and how much has been incurred in legal expenses, both by the Ministry's own legal teams and as payments of claimants’ costs.

There are currently 941 outstanding Northern Ireland legacy civil claims against the Ministry of Defence pertaining to incidents which occurred before the Belfast Agreement in 1998. The amounts paid in settlements or damages in such cases in each of the previous five financial years (FY) were:

FY 2019-20: £1,391,428.50

FY 2020-21: £665,514.00

FY 2021-22: £2,659,712.00

FY 2022-23: £3,890,281.00

FY 2023-24: £3,953,832.00

For the same five-year period, legal expenses incurred by the Ministry of Defence as payment of claimants’ costs were:

FY 2019-20: £575,193.77

FY 2020-21: £593,329.72

FY 2021-22: £784,568.20

FY 2022-23: £3,418,922.39

FY 2023-24: £2,560,995.61

For the same five-year period, legal expenses incurred by the Ministry of Defence’s own legal teams were:

FY 2019-20: £77,626.03

FY 2020-21: £78,811.07

FY 2021-22: £222,520.62

FY 2022-23: £157,161.76

FY 2023-24: £358,036.87