Response from the Ministry of Defence
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I sent a draft of this report to the MoD on 4 May 2011. The MoD responded promptly and has accepted in full my findings and recommendations.
In addition, although we did not specifically ask it to do so, the MoD has told me that it also intends to review the cases of those deemed ineligible for the £500 apology payment in 2005. Where the MoD identifies individuals whose eligibility was assessed inappropriately, it will pay them the £500 payment. I welcome this initiative.
In her response to the draft report, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence said that she was disappointed that the failings in the departmental system allowed these errors to continue unchecked for so long and that the MoD missed a number of opportunities to re-assess their approach. She said that the MoD would look carefully at how best to embed the lessons of this report into its internal processes, explaining that she intends to review the implications of my report for the MoD more generally.
The Permanent Under-Secretary said that she was particularly sorry that these issues were not resolved before Mr A passed away.
