Written question asked by Austin Mitchell (Labour) on Monday, 7 June 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 1 July 2004. It was answered by Ivor Caplin (Labour) on Thursday, 1 July 2004 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, why the eligibility for compensation for civilian detainees of the Japanese was changed between the Prime Minister's account of the scheme and the Department's amplification of its terms; and how many applications had been received by the second date. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why the eligibility for compensation for civilian detainees of the Japanese was changed between the Prime Minister's account of the scheme and the Department's amplification of its terms; and how many applications had been received by the second date. [177803] Mr. Caplin: There was no change to the intended scope of the ex gratia payment scheme in relation to civilian internees after the announcement of the scheme on 7 November 2000 but an eligibility criterion was clarified. Letters began to be sent to those claimants who did not meet this criterion in late June 2001. By the end of June 2001, 3,195 claims had been received from former civilian internees. A number of claims had also been received from surviving spouses of former civilian internees who had died, but the figures available for claims from surviving spouses cover the spouses of all eligible groups and not just civilian internees and it is therefore not possible to isolate the requested information.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 177803; 423 c417-8W
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Compensation Applications British nationality Civilians Eligibility Japan Married people World War II Prisoners of war Ex gratia payments
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk