The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
Afghanistan,
losing both his legs and suffering a brain injury and multiple
other serious
injuries.108
The
BBC
reported
that he had been awarded £152,150 in compensation.
151.
In February
2008, the MOD amended the AFCS to take account of
individuals
who had
suffered more than one injury in a single incident and to increase
the lump-
sum
payments to those with the most serious multiple injuries (within
the £285,000
maximum).109
The MOD
stated that, when the AFCS was developed, the MOD had
not
envisaged the “severe, multiple injury cases of the type that are
now unfortunately
occurring”.
The changes enabled the AFCS to respond to that
challenge.
152.
In July 2008,
within the Service Personnel Command Paper, the
Government
doubled the
lump-sum payment for the most serious injuries, from £285,000
to
£570,000.110
All
payments were increased by at least 10 percent. The
Government
committed
to apply those increases retrospectively to all those who had
already made
claims
under the AFCS. GIPs remained unchanged.
153.
Mr Ainsworth
told the Inquiry that when he pressed for that increase, he
had
experienced
“some resistance” from some officials in the MOD:
“… I can
remember a particular official amusing me no end when he told me,
‘You
cannot,
Minister, double the upfront compensation payment’ … I think he had
worked
on the
scheme for quite some time and was pretty dedicated to it, and he
knew
some of the
other consequences of doubling the upfront payment, [that]
potentially
it would
cause disparities with other people, but my attitude was ‘So what?
I can’t
defend the
level of upfront payment as it exists today and you do not have to,
and
you are not
injured and we are going to double it’, and we
did.”111
154.
Further
increases in lump-sum payments (though not to the maximum
amount)
and to
GIPs, and changes to the operation of the AFCS, were made in 2010
following a
155.
In March 2001,
the Government launched the Veterans Initiative to identify
and
address the
needs of veterans, in close partnership with ex-Service
organisations.113
It also
announced the appointment of Dr Moonie as the first Minister for
Veterans’ Affairs.
The
Initiative’s priorities included:
•
co-ordinating
the Government’s response to issues affecting
veterans;
108
BBC, 28
August 2007, Maimed
soldier ‘let down’ by Army.
109
Ministry of
Defence, Military
Covenant: the Support Available to Current and Former
Servicemen,
2008.
110
The Nation’s
Commitment: Cross-Government Support to our Armed Forces, their
Families and
Veterans, July
2008, Cm 7424.
111 Public
hearing, 6 July 2010, pages 25-26.
112
Ministry of
Defence, The Review
of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, February
2010.
113
Standard
Note SN/IA/3070, 28 June 2005, ‘Veterans Policy’.
70