§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if members of the Reserve Forces who served in the Gulf are entitled to attributable pensions benefits. [123222]
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§ Mr. SpellarAttributable benefits for Reserve Service were introduced in 1980, and the regulations are contained in the Naval and Marine Pay and Pensions (Non-Effective Benefits and Family Pension) Order 1999, the Army Pay Warrant 1977, and the Queen's Regulations for the Royal Air Force. It has been the practice since 1980 to award attributable benefits only where members of the Reserve Forces are medically discharged from the Reserves at an end of a period of active duty. During periods of recalled service for operations, individuals in the regular reserve forces could claim benefits only if they were medically discharged at the point of demobilisation. We have now taken legal advice, which suggests that Army reservists are, under current regulations, eligible to claim attributable benefits if they are medically discharged from the reserve at any time. Our legal advisers have also identified some anomalies in the regulations for the other Services.
We therefore propose for the future that all members of the volunteer reserves and regular reserves should be eligible for attributable benefits if they are medically discharged from the reserve forces at any time for reasons attributable to reserve service. The existing anomalies in the regulations, under which reservists are treated differently depending on which Service they come from, will be removed. We shall re-examine claims from Gulf Reservists under the interpretation of the regulations we now believe to be correct. We shall also consider any new claims.