§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Ministry of Defence has now taken a decision to replace the current burden of proof ("reasonable doubt") with "the balance of probability" in the pension and compensation scheme to be introduced in April 2005; and, if so, whether they accept the Royal British Legion's estimate that this could eliminate up to 60 per cent of claimants for both war pension and war widows' awards. [HL5350]
§ Lord BachI refer my noble friend to my Written Answer of 16 September, (Official Report, cols. WA 166–167) announcing new Armed Forces pension and compensation arrangements. The "balance of probability" standard of proof will be used in the new Armed Forces compensation scheme (AFCS). This standard of proof is used widely elsewhere in occupational schemes and by the civil courts. The new scheme has been designed to ensure fair, evidence-based decision-making, with the standard of proof as only one factor affecting consideration of claims. Modern systems for keeping service and medical records provide a high level of confidence that reliable evidence will be available of how an injury or illness may have arisen. Equally, the causes and likely prognosis of ill-health and injury are now much better understood than when the current standard of proof was introduced in the war pensions scheme in 1943. Any individual who is unhappy with the outcome of a claim will have right of appeal to a fully independent tribunal. We are aware of no basis for the Royal British Legion's estimate of claim elimination rates and I can confirm that we expect no reduction in the costs of the scheme as a result of the changes in design. We are confident that the new scheme will be successful in ensuring compensation in all cases where there is reasonable evidence that a condition was linked to service, as well as providing a better focus on the more severely disabled.