Public Policy eNews - 16 October 2008

Welcome to the fourth edition of the Legion’s policy eNewsletter. We hope you find this a useful source of updates on government policy, Legion campaigning and welfare benefit developments.

Policy News

The Legion at the Party Conferences - coping with conflict
The Legion held three successful meetings at the party political conferences in September and October examining the pressures of modern conflict and the impact this can have on the health of the Service personnel. There was particular focus given to the psychological health and alcohol use of personnel, as recent research has uncovered links between increasing length and frequency of deployments, alcohol use and mental health problems among Armed Forces personnel, highlighted in the Legion's Honour the Covenant campaign.

Each meeting featured presentations from a panel consisting of parliamentarians, Legion representatives and experts in the field, followed by questions and comments from the audience. Among the many issues raised in the lively debates were the impact of the loss of friends and colleagues on personnel in combat, what measures the Services currently take to address problem drinking among personnel and the long term implications of mental health problems for personnel once they leave the Armed Forces. The Legion will continue to work in this area to ensure personnel who are vulnerable to mental health and alcohol misuse problems receive the most effective support and treatment as early as possible.

Covenant reports published 

The Liberal Democrat Party and the Military Covenant Commission, set up by Conservative Leader David Cameron, published their separate reports on the military covenant, and how to improve the lives of Service personnel and their families, to coincide with the Party Conferences. The reports were announced following the Legion's Honour the Covenant campaign, which drew attention to the areas in which serving and ex-Service personnel and their families were being let down and made recommendations for improvements.

The Liberal Democrat report, 'No Choice but Change - The military covenant in it's strategic context', calls for a reappraisal of UK defence strategy in its argument that the Covenant is under threat. It also focuses on housing issues, complaining that the Command Paper made no commitment to speeding up the current accommodation modernisation programme, and suggests that all receipts from future sales of defence estate assets should be reinvested in the refurbishment programme, in line with the Legion's recommendation.

The Conservative’s Military Covenant Commission report, 'Restoring the Covenant', calls for the creation of a new tri-Service Covenant and a permanent Military Covenant committee consisting of Ministers from all relevant government departments, to ensure the covenant is honoured. The report recommends that every Primary Care Trust appoint a veterans 'champion' to co-ordinate services for them, that military personnel should be nursed together whenever possible and calls for the recruitment of more military psychiatrists. The report also states that money from the sale of MoD property should be spent only on bringing accommodation up to standard and that a future Conservative government should look to help Service personnel buy their own homes and improve access to social and temporary housing for ex-Service personnel.

Honour the Covenant Campaign analysis
The Legion Policy Unit has produced an analysis of the progress of the Honour the Covenant Campaign since its launch in September 2007. The document outlines what has been achieved, the ongoing policy priorities and considers areas for future expansion of the campaign.

Gurkha Judgement
The High Court has found that Gurkha veterans refused the right to settle in the United Kingdom were treated unlawfully and the policy used to reject them was misleading. The ruling is a victory for the many Gurkhas discharged before 1997 who have had their applications for settlement rejected. It found that the current guidance failed to take into account relevant factors such as length of service, medals awarded and conflicts experienced.

The Government have been given three months to reconsider the policy. In response it has promised to review all the rejected Gurkha cases by the end of the year.

Meanwhile a Private Members Bill to allow automatic right to indefinite leave to remain in the UK for Gurkhas discharged before 1997 has passed its third reading in the House of Lords. Although the Bill will now go to the House of Commons it is not expected to be passed due to time restraints.

Welfare Reforms

Free travel in London for War Pensioners

Anyone in receipt of an ongoing payment under the War Pensions Scheme or Guaranteed Income Payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme will be able to travel for free on public transport in London from November this year. This applies to dependants, widows and widowers in receipt of these payments and also applies to those receiving these payments but not living in London.

Eligible applicants will be issued with an Oyster photocard, enabling them to travel free of charge at any time within London via bus, Tube, DLR, tram and London Overground services. Details on how to apply can be found on the Transport for London website.

No prescription charges for cancer patients
Suffers of cancer and other long-term conditions are to be exempted from prescription charges. Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo recently announced that the Government has decided to exempt cancer patients from prescription charges with effect from 1 April 2009. The Government will move towards exempting patients with long-term conditions over the next few years.

Prescription charges to be abolished in Northern Ireland
All prescription charges are to be abolished in Northern Ireland. The cost of a prescription will reduce to £3 in January 2009 and by April 2010 will be free of charge. Prepayment certificates will also reduce to £9 for four months and to £25 for 12 months between 2009 and April 2010.
Prescription charges were abolished in Wales in 2007 and are to be abolished in Scotland in 2011. This announcement will leave England as the only country in the UK to retain charges after 2011.

Pension Credit rule changes
It is now only possible to backdate a claim for Pension Credit for a maximum of 3 months. Previously the limit was 12 months. However it is now possible for a person to retain entitlement to Pension Credit whilst temporarily absent from Great Britain for up to 13 weeks.

Cold weather payments
Cold weather payments are to increase from £8.50 to £25 per week for winter 2008/2009. Those eligible will get £25 when the average temperature in an applicant’s area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees Celsius or below over seven consecutive days during the period from 1 November to 31 March. Details on eligibility for cold weather payments can be found here.

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