Mr. Gareth R. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the external audit of the Gulf Veterans' Medical Assessment Programme to be completed; and if he intends to publish the audit report. [82471]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonMy Department has now received the final report of the audit of the Gulf Veterans' Medical Assessment Programme (MAP) undertaken by the King's Fund Health Quality Service. I am pleased to report that the auditors were impressed with the organisation of the Medical Assessment Programme and the enthusiasm and commitment of the staff to the provision of a high-quality service. Nevertheless, the auditors also made a number of specific recommendations for improving the service and, because of the importance which we attach to the MAP, these have been accepted in full and work has already begun to implement them. The process of implementation is expected to be completed by November of this year. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library of the House and it will also be published on the Ministry of Defence Gulf Veterans' Illnesses website.