The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
Many
applications were “obviously inadmissible”, but a surprising number
raised difficult
questions.
A number of principles had informed decisions:
•
Individuals
on Letters of Appointment who did not fulfil the ‘‘Eligibility
criteria for
former
staff’’ were not eligible.
•
Those still
on the payroll on 8 August 2007 but not currently working
because
of threats
should be counted as current staff.
•
Those
meeting the job criteria for only a brief period, such as providers
of
“occasional
interpreting”, were not eligible, however long they had worked
for
the
UK.
856.
The first 18
“current staff” arrived in the UK from Basra on 8 April
2008.553
By 22 May,
the UK had received 1,138 applications for assistance, of which 503
had
been
assessed as eligible, with almost half the successful applicants
opting for the
financial
package.
857.
In March 2009,
Mr Miliband informed Ms Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary,
that
an
assessment of the Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme by Home
Office, FCO,
MOD, DFID
and Cabinet Office officials had concluded that it was “working
well” and
only “minor
adjustments” were needed.554
Mr Miliband
explained that he had agreed a
recommendation
to set a cut‑off date after which new applications from “former”
staff
would not
be accepted. He sought Ms Smith’s agreement to continue the scheme
for
serving
staff, with a review of its future in September 2009.
858.
On 23 March,
Mr Miliband announced to Parliament that the scheme was
“popular
and
effective” and would remain unchanged, but new applications from
“former” staff
(those who
had left their jobs before 7 August 2007) would not be accepted
after 19 May.
859.
The scheme was
closed to all applicants on 16 January 2011.555
860.
The total
number of individuals who have taken up the option to be resettled
in the
UK under
the Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme is 1,389 (see Table
2).556
Gateway
Direct
entry
Principal
applicants
183
186
Dependants
TOTAL
413
607
596
793
553
Letter
Felton to Acland‑Hood, 22 May 2008, ‘Locally Engaged Iraqi Staff
Scheme: Progress and
Next Steps’.
554
Letter
Miliband to Secretary of State for Home Affairs, 11 March 2009,
‘Iraq: Locally Engaged Staff
Assistance
Scheme’.
555
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 16
September 2010, column 58WS.
556
Email FCO
to Iraq Inquiry, 15 February 2016, ‘Locally Engaged Staff
Assistance Scheme’.
390