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Armed Forces

My Lords, I shall be brief. I have two questions for the Minister, both relating to matters of severe welfare concern to two categories of members of the Armed Forces. I am sure that the noble Baroness will be aware of the workings of the Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987, which set out to repeal Section 10 of the corresponding 1947 Act. On the face of it, this should have been very good news for members of the armed services because it opened up the way to make claims for compensation for disabilities caused by unforeseen circumstances during their service. In particular, it should have been of great encouragement to members of the Royal Navy who had served on ships which had been equipped and cladded out with significant amounts of asbestos to protect them from fire and damage during action but who, in the natural course of things, had unfortunately been exposed to asbestos contamination to the point where asbestosis became a progressive and severe risk for them over their advancing years. Unfortunately, the 1987 Act did nothing of the sort. It was not retrospective, applying only to anybody who could be proven to have contracted the disease after the Act had been passed, which was, of course, a complete contradiction in terms. After it is first contracted, this disease takes some 40 years to mature. When the symptoms first appear, you can therefore say quite clearly that you caught it 30 years ago. However, you would not qualify for a claim under the 1987 Act because you would be making the claim after the Act had been passed and could not make a retrospective claim. That is a total injustice which has never been corrected. What processes does the MoD apply today to monitor the victims of this disease who contracted it during their service? How many such cases are there? What, if anything, is the MoD doing to assist these people with care and support and, particularly, to support the families who have the terrible burden of looking after them? The MoD will have a full list of the ships that were principally afflicted, but HMS ““Furious”” is one in particular. Most notably and most severely hit have been the crews of the Royal Yacht ““Britannia””, which ought to be a cause of significant concern to the MoD. A number of its crew, including one commanding officer who has since died because he insisted on supervising too personally the renovation of the engine room, should be given careful attention to see how they are being looked after today and what their fate is. That is one particular concern. My other concern relates to something much more up-to-date. It relates to the RAF and arises from the recent coroners court proceedings about the Hercules aircraft crash in January 2005. We have heard press comment to the effect that putting in the explosive-suppressant foam—the missing factor that was said possibly to have contributed to that mishap—required a capital investment in equipment of £270,000 and a £50,000 cost for each aircraft thereafter. I understand that there are, at the moment, 16 of the old J-type Hercules aircraft and 24 of the later K-type Hercules. I believe that the Js are about to be reduced from 16 to five, making a total fleet of 29. I have received information from a senior Civil Service source that the total cost of meeting the anticipated ruling of the coroners court—that the explosive-suppressant foam should be applied to the whole fleet—was considered to be such that it required the abandonment of the entire upgrade, renovation and maintenance programme for the whole of the Hercules fleet. This included the list of all other known things that had to be upgraded. If that is the case, it is an absolutely disgraceful economy to make in these circumstances. It is also a complete reversal of the common-sense principle that if you know you have a problem in one area, you should put all other problems right as well. Will the Minister assure us that the money which has been diverted for the foam replacement will be made good to enable the immediate resumption and completion of the entire maintenance programme? This had previously been set for the vital work of our forces at this time. My two questions, one about the Navy and one about the RAF, relate to groups of people who are dedicated, give loyal and committed service, and earn and deserve a little of the same in return.