Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry (): I am pleased today to be
able to update the House on the review of Afghan relocations and
assistance policy scheme applications from former members of
Afghan specialist units, including former members of Commando
Force 333 and Afghan Task Force 444, commonly known as the
Triples. As this House knows, these Afghans worked
alongside UK armed forces in Afghanistan, fighting valiantly,
with some dying alongside our troops. It is for this reason I
know that former Triples have the support of veterans of
the conflict and the British public, as well as Members on both
sides of the House.
When in opposition, the Defence Secretary and I, alongside many
sitting and former Members of the House advocated for a review of
decisions made on Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP)
applications from the Triples. This review was begun
under the previous government but I am proud to have been able to
drive its progression since I took office and ensure that those
who we owe so much to are appropriately supported.
Last year I announced a second and final phase of the Triples
Review following the conclusion that, in some cases, evidence of
certain Top Up Payments would also be sufficient to demonstrate a
substantive and positive contribution to the UK's military or
national security objectives in Afghanistan due to the nature of
the work undertaken by those individuals. This revised approach
made it more likely that some individuals from these cohorts
previously found ineligible could potentially secure a positive
decision.
I believe this second phase was the right thing to do - to ensure
we fully analysed and understood all available records that could
inform eligibility decisions for the those who may have been
impacted. Today I can announce that this Review is complete and,
over the two phases we have overturned 884 decisions.
I can assure the House that all those who have already had their
applications reviewed under Phase 1 and 2 of the Triples Review
and have had a fresh decision made have either been contacted or
will be contacted in due course. All decisions made in Phases 1
and 2 will still carry a right to have this decision reviewed.
This Review has led to improvements in the ARAP casework function
and we've put in place additional resourcing and new processes to
continue to drive those improvements. Enhanced training is now in
place within the ARAP casework team to better identify
organisations who may hold relevant records - and guidance has
been amended to reflect this.
MOD is investing in both the systems and the people to improve
our digital records management now and in the future as well as
enhancing our capability and approach in interrogating legacy
data sets. In coordination with the recommendations made in the
McIvor Review into Data Protection Compliance within MOD, we have
also been implementing a Digital Records Management Plan across
Defence.
The journey of improvement is of course a continuous one and MOD
will continue to build on the learning from this Review.
Although I cannot change what happened in the past, I am proud of
the work that we have undertaken to conclude this Review and
deliver on our promise to support eligible Triples who
contributed to the UK mission in Afghanistan.
This Government is clear that we intend to conclude the Afghan
Resettlement Programme by the end of this Parliament. The end of
the Triples Review is an important step towards this however
there is more to do and I will update the House shortly on
further developments.
