Mr. Gareth ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to review the arrangements for compensating service personnel for death or injury due to service. [20025]
§ Dr. ReidThe Government share a number of concerns about the anomalous and complex nature of the current arrangements for paying compensation to Service personnel who are killed, injured or suffer serious illness as a result of their service. Experience from the Gulf conflict and operations in Bosnia underline the need for arrangements which properly reflect the special nature of the commitment which Service men and women make to the defence of our country.
We have therefore decided there should be a comprehensive review of the arrangements for compensating Service personnel (or their dependants) and for the payment of death and invaliding pension benefits. Our aim is to devise a modern, fair and simplified scheme which could apply to all Service personnel injured or 441W killed on peacetime duties—in training or on operations—where death or injury was attributable to military service, to replace the current complex arrangements.
The main aim of the review will be to recommend new arrangements for the future, but it will also examine the extent to which personnel currently serving may be able to benefit from a simpler and more comprehensive approach. The War Pensions Scheme will continue to be available to existing ex-Service personnel.
The review will be conducted jointly with the Department of Social Security, the Department responsible for the War Pensions Scheme. We intend to publish the results of the review in a consultation document.
A review of compensation for Service personnel was recommended in the House of Commons Defence Committee Sixth Report on Gulf War illness, published earlier this year. I hope that the whole House will support the initiative we are now taking.