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1110124

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Afghanistan: Immigration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many former Afghan interpreters to the UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan have been relocated to the UK under the Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL15092
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>As of 12 April 2019, 438 former Afghan Locally Employed Staff have been relocated to the UK. This figure includes former FCO and DFID staff and a small number who, although not interpreters, were deemed to have served outside the wire on the front line for 12 consecutive months and were made redundant, and were therefore eligible for relocation.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:41:40 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1110125

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Afghanistan: Immigration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many family members of former Afghan interpreters to the UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan have been relocated to the UK under the Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL15093
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>As of 12 April 2019, 845 family members of former Locally Employed Staff (LES) have been relocated to the UK. This figure includes the family members of former FCO and DFID LES and the family members of a small number who, although not interpreters, were deemed to have served outside the wire on the front line for 12 consecutive months and were made redundant and were therefore eligible for relocation.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:41:02 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1110126

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Afghanistan: Immigration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) Afghan interpreters, and (2) members of their immediate family are currently awaiting (a) a decision on their relocation to the UK under the Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme, and (b) implementation of the decision that they may relocate to the UK under that scheme.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL15094
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department is currently examining the cases of seven former Locally Employed Staff (LES) to establish their eligibility under the Ex-Gratia Scheme, all of which are expected to be resolved by the end of April.</p><p>If the former LES member is found to be eligible then the relocation process can begin immediately. As no decision has been reached, no family details have been obtained and I am therefore unable to give numbers of family members.</p><p>There are five former LES and twenty-eight family members waiting to relocate to the UK. Three are scheduled to be relocated within the next three months and two have requested that their relocation be temporarily suspended for personal reasons.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:46:58 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1110127

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Afghanistan: Immigration
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Afghan interpreters who have been relocated to the UK under the Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme are currently waiting for members of their family to be able to join them; for how long they have been waiting; and when they expect the family members to arrive in the UK.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL15095
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Under the original terms of the Ex-Gratia Scheme, Former Locally Employed Staff (LES) who were deemed eligible for relocation to the UK were required to bring their family members with them at the same time as they themselves were relocated. For a variety of reasons, not all of them did so. 138 former LES were relocated to the UK on their own, but it is not known how many of them may have left behind family members who were eligible for relocation related to the Ex-Gratia Scheme. To join them subsequently, those family members still in Afghanistan were required to meet applicable Home Office immigration rules independently of the Ex-Gratia Scheme.</p><p>The Home Office amended the immigration rules related to the Ex-Gratia Scheme earlier this year and those changes came into effect on 6 April 2019. As of 12 April 2019, the Department has received a single application, though it is estimated that the family members of 30 former LES will be eligible. Applications will be processed as quickly as possible. Ministry of Defence officials expect the majority of family members to arrive within six months of their application.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:40:40 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1110131

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Armed Forces: Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to legislate to give members of the armed forces full access to employment tribunals.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15099
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Members of the Armed Forces have access to employment tribunals concerning a claim under the Equality Act 2010 in connection with certain allegations of discrimination. An employment tribunal will normally wait for the service complaints process to be finished before hearing any case. We have no current plans to broaden these provisions.</p><p>If a Service person has a valid grievance on any other matter relating to their service in the Armed Forces, they may make a service complaint and seek redress. The role of the Service Complaints Ombudsman was created to give complainants who are not satisfied with the outcome or handling of their complaint an independent route to addressing their concerns and to increase the level of independent oversight.</p><p>In certain circumstances, if the complainant remains unhappy with either the decision of the Ministry of Defence or the Ombudsman, they may also challenge those decisions by way of Judicial Review.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:44:05 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1110130

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Service Complaints Ombudsman: Powers
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to strengthen the powers of the Service Complaints Ombudsman and, in particular, to make the Ombudsman’s recommendations legally binding.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15098
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>The powers of the Service Complaints Ombudsman were subject to extensive consideration during the passage of The Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Act 2015. We have no current plans to change those powers.</p><p>As I have stated in my previous answer to the noble Lady's Question HL5618 on 6 March 2018, recommendations made by the Ombudsman are not legally binding, but they do have considerable weight. The expectation is that the Services will follow recommendations made by the Ombudsman, unless there are good, cogent and defensible reasons not to do so.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:42:09 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1110132

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Veterans: Complaints
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to provide (1) support, and (2) funding, for veterans who find themselves subject to complaints relating to when they served in the armed forces.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL15100
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Veterans facing criminal allegations relating to their service in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan are provided with fully funded legal representation, for as long as it is necessary. In addition, the Ministry of Defence is committed to providing high quality welfare and pastoral support to all those veterans affected by historic investigations. Veterans can access this support through the Veterans Welfare Service, part of Veterans UK, on 0808 1914 2 18.</p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 23/04/2019 15:42:48 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal