eNewsletter

Public Policy eNews - March 2010

Welcome to another 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.

Politics and Policy

More help from the Legion for injured servicemen
Recovery includes physiotherapyThe Legion is to help fund four Personnel Recovery Centres that are required following a change to the MoD's policy on retaining injured Service men and women. As many units are reaching capacity in personnel terms, the MOD has decided it is necessary to reconsider the circumstances in which injured personnel can be retained in Service. There will be a new focus on the ability of the Service men and women to deploy on operations. However some non-deployable personnel will still be retained if it is in the interests of both the individual and the unit.

The new recovery centres will provide these injured personnel with an improved level of support for recovery and provision of skills to enable a return to duty or to return to civilian life. The Legion intends to commit £20 million over ten years to support these centres. These funds will cover the maintenance and operation costs of the centres, provision of a member of staff in each centre and Legion support later in civilian life following discharge.

Improved compensation for the Nation's heroes
Injured Service personnel and the Legion scored a major victory when reforms to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme were announced recently. The Legion, through our Honour the Covenant campaign, has for some time been calling for improvements to the scheme. All the changes were recommended by an MoD review which the Government accepted in full. The Legion participated in an independent panel which presided over the review.

The recommended changes include improvements to the life long payments for loss of income as a result of serious injury, increases to lump sum payments, improvements to the calculation of awards for multiple injuries and higher awards for mental illness and hearing loss.

Mental health project for the whole of Wales
A mental health service piloted for two years in Cardiff will now be extended across the whole of Wales. The project which supports armed services personnel experiencing mental health problems as a result of their service has now received full funding from the Welsh Assembly Government. The service offers access to clinicians with expertise in veterans' mental health to provide assessment and suitable treatment.

Late victory for Return to RationingReturn to Rationing
The Legion's Return to Rationing campaign scored another success recently when the Government announced that 250,000 of the poorest pensioners will receive an £80 rebate on their electricity bill. Those over 70 and in receipt of the minimum income element of Pension Credit will have the amount discounted from their bills. The Department of Work and Pensions who will provide details of those eligible to the energy companies so the discount be can applied.

The Legion has a thirst for knowledge
The Legion is currently undertaking an extensive research programme. This will build on our 2005 survey of the size, demographics and welfare needs of the Service community. The new research 'Welfare Needs of the Armed Forces Community 2010' will provide more and up-to-date information and a robust evidence base for the Legion's strategic planning and service development.

The research will involve five separate projects. The first will update the 2005 forecasting of the future size and needs of the 2005 research. A second will provide information of the location and profile of the community to assist the Legion to direct service provision. The experiences of those using Legion Poppy Support services will be surveyed in a third project. Another will explore, through interviews and questionnaires, the needs of different groups in the Armed Forces community. The last project will provide further exploration of survey data collected from those deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. This will hopefully provide an increased understanding of the social impact of deployment.

Welfare

Government backs down exportable benefits
The Government has accepted that three benefits are exportable to other EU countries and so can still be received by those living in EU countries. The decision affects Disability Living Allowance (care component only), Attendance Allowance and Carer's Allowance. The mobility component of Disability Living Allowance has not been affected by this judgment. Anyone making a new claim is required to have been in the UK for 26 out of the past 52 weeks. Those that have tried to have a claim reinstated previously but failed due to the old rules will be contacted by the DWP.

War Pensions increase
War Pensions will receive a 1.5% increase from 12 April 2010 but this includes an early implementation of at least part of next year's increase. Kevan Jones, the Veterans Minister, announced that this is to "provide additional support to households during the early stages of economic recovery".

War Pensions are usually increased each April in line with the rate for the Retail Price Index (RPI) for the preceding September. The inclusion of next year's increase means that War Pension rates went up despite the RPI for September 2009 being -1.4%.

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