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   Troop compensation changes
Soldiers injured on operations will be able to claim for increased payments, under changes to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme announced today.
Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon, Bob Ainsworth said that there would be an extra 30 beds at the defence medical rehabilitation centre at Headley Court. "There will always be a human cost when our forces are committed to action. We have a moral obligation to honour their commitment and fulfil our responsibilities," the defence secretary told MPs. "When service men and women are injured, we must ensure that they are provided with the right support - not just financial help - but medical care and through-life support too." The changes had been announced earlier in the day following a review of the scheme by former chief of the defence staff, Admiral Lord Boyce. Under the Ministry of Defence's tariff system, the award for the most serious injuries will remain at £570,000, but the other award levels below that will be increased. For the second level it will rise from £402,500 to £470,000 and for the third it will go up from £230,000 to £380,000. Unlike the old system injured men and women are able to claim compensation while they are still in service, Ainsworth told the Commons. He said that a new "fast track" interim payment system would be introduced so that those injured would receive some money before the entire claims process was completed. And he announced that the changes would be backdated to include those who had received compensation since 2005. "Our armed forces must have the confidence that if they are injured they will receive the help that they need," he said. But while welcoming much of the statement, shadow defence secretary Liam Fox sought assurances that veterans who experienced mental health problems a long time after exiting the services would not miss out. "How will be system be amended to ensure those who present late with such problems will not be excluded?" he asked. Ainsworth said that the timelines in the scheme were timelines to make an application or to make an appeal after the diagnosis has been first made. "It doesn’t matter how long it takes for an illness to come to light," he assured Fox. "People will then have the extended timeline after that diagnosis has been made." Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey also welcomed many of the changes, but asked how much the changes would cost. He said the government was being a "little coy" about funding. Ainsworth said he didn’t ask Lord Boyce to fit the scheme within a "particular envelope" of cost. "I don’t believe it's appropriate in this case," he said. "We have a moral commitment to these individuals that we have to meet, and we have to meet the cost. "I don’t think it is unaffordable," he said. But I don’t think we should put that within some kind of financial restriction, it has to come first and has to be funded in full." Source: ePolitix.com Copyright Dod's Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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