§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the costs of compensating servicewomen who left the services as a consequence of pregnancy(a) in each year since 1990 and (b) in the coming financial year. [62180]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonCompensation payments to Servicewomen who left the Armed Forces because of pregnancy began in August 1992. Payments followed applications to industrial tribunals after the High Court ruled that to discharge women from the Armed Forces on the grounds of pregnancy was in breach of the European Equal Treatment Directive. The following amounts in compensation were awarded in each of the financial years shown:
Financial Year Amount (£) 1992–1993 1,653,931 1993–1994 6,980,274 1994–1995 35,611,282 1995–1996 11,762,089 1996–1997 2,803,571 1997–1998 948,572 1998–1999 (to 30 November 1998) 520,063 No further compensation will be paid in the remainder of 1998–1999 or in 1999–2000, as all claims have now been settled.