The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
a minimum
threshold for assistance and consider whether more could be offered
to
a subset of
Iraqi employees, against clear criteria and with possible
resettlement in
third
countries. It should also consider the implications for UK
operations in Iraq and
elsewhere,
and for UK asylum policy.
845.
The ‘Review of
Locally Engaged Staff’, written by the FCO with input from
other
departments,
was sent to Ministers on 1 October.544
The review
recommended the
establishment
of “discrete schemes to assist sub‑sets of a) serving and b) former
Iraqi
LE staff”.
Objective criteria, such as the length of service should be the
main method
for deciding
which staff should be eligible.
“Because
records of former staff, in particular the estimated 20,000
employed
by MOD, are
incomplete, it is extremely difficult to assess with any certainty
the
numbers of
former staff who might be … eligible …”
847.
Ministers
agreed on 3 October that “the best solution was to offer assistance
as an
ex‑gratia
package, not as a reward for service, but with the implicit
recognition that the
uniquely
difficult circumstances formed part of the justification for that
package”.545
848.
Ministers also
agreed to set a minimum of 12 months’ service for serving staff
and
that for
former staff, only the “professional cadres” would be eligible. The
package would
include
financial assistance, resettlement in third countries and
resettlement via the
Gateway
Protection Programme.546
On funding,
the Home Office would offer £6 million
from the
annual Gateway budget. Additional costs should be met where
possible by
employing
departments. In the MOD’s case that would entail a call on the
Reserve.
849.
Ministers met
again on 8 October to reach agreement on whether existing
staff
should be
offered the additional option of Exceptional Leave to Enter the UK
direct from
Iraq and,
if so, how that would be funded.547
Ministers
agreed that the MOD should
be able to
claim up to £20 million from the Reserve and would provide up to a
further
£5 million
from its existing budgets.
850.
Mr Brown
announced the scheme to Parliament later on 8 October:
“I would …
like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the work of our
civilian
and locally
employed staff in Iraq, many of whom have worked in
extremely
difficult
circumstances, exposing themselves and their families to danger. I
am
pleased
therefore to announce today a new policy which more fully
recognises the
544
Paper
Cabinet Office, 1 October 2007, ‘Ministerial Meeting on Iraq Review
of Locally Engaged Staff,
Iraq:
Locally Engaged Staff’.
545
Minutes, 3
October 2007, Ministerial Meeting on Iraq – Review of Locally
Engaged Staff.
546
The Gateway
Protection Programme, introduced in 2004, is operated by the UK
Government in
partnership
with UNHCR. It offers a legal route for a fixed number of refugees
from different countries
to settle
in the UK each year.
547
Minutes, 8
October 2007, Ministerial Meeting on Iraq – Review of Locally
Engaged Staff.
388