Andrew Murrison corrected a written answer on Ministry of Defence: Compensation

15 September 2023 · Commons written answer · Ministry of Defence

Emily Thornberry (Labour, Islington South and Finsbury) asked written question 198317 on 7 September 2023. Dr Andrew Murrison answered on 15 September 2023 for the Ministry of Defence, and Dr Andrew Murrison corrected the answer on 15 September 2023. The correction replaced 1 figure (3,865) with 4 figures (£111.20 million, £114.53 million, £33 million, £78 million). Altogether 23 words differ between the two versions.

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 122 of his Department’s annual report and accounts for 2022-23, how many of the special payments reported for financial year 2022-23 were made to (a) service personnel and (b) other individuals affected by defence activities.

Original and corrected answer

Struck through: original only. Bold: correction only.

Original	Corrected
The majority of the 4,609 special payments disclosed relate to common law compensation claims ~~(3,865).~~ An analysis of this data is provided below; · 2,307 payments to ~~Service~~ personnel · 1,558 payments to ~~Others~~ It should be noted that this analysis reflects the volume of payments made and that individuals may receive more than one compensation payment depending on the settlement reached. The remaining ~~volume~~ will include payments made in settlement of contractual disputes where it has been judged that this represents the best value for money course of action for the Department. Two of these payments are separately disclosed in the ~~ARAc~~ table as they exceed the >£300,000 threshold for more detailed reporting (specifically MSI Instruments (£959,000) and Land Remediation Payment ~~(£321,000)).~~	The majority of the 4,609 special payments totalling £114.53 million disclosed relate to common law compensation claims (£111.20 million). An analysis of this data is provided below; · 2,307 payments equating to £78 million to service personnel · 1,558 payments equating to £33 million to others It should be noted that this analysis reflects the volume of payments made and that individuals may receive more than one compensation payment depending on the settlement reached. The remaining value will include payments made in settlement of contractual disputes where it has been judged that this represents the best value for money course of action for the Department. Two of these payments are separately disclosed in the table as they exceed the >£300,000 threshold for more detailed reporting (specifically MSI Instruments (£959,000) and Land Remediation Payment (£321,000).

Original

Corrected

The majority of the 4,609 special payments disclosed relate to common law compensation claims ~~(3,865).~~ An analysis of this data is provided below;
· 2,307 payments to ~~Service~~ personnel
· 1,558 payments to ~~Others~~
It should be noted that this analysis reflects the volume of payments made and that individuals may receive more than one compensation payment depending on the settlement reached.
The remaining ~~volume~~ will include payments made in settlement of contractual disputes where it has been judged that this represents the best value for money course of action for the Department. Two of these payments are separately disclosed in the ~~ARAc~~ table as they exceed the >£300,000 threshold for more detailed reporting (specifically MSI Instruments (£959,000) and Land Remediation Payment ~~(£321,000)).~~

The majority of the 4,609 special payments totalling £114.53 million disclosed relate to common law compensation claims (£111.20 million). An analysis of this data is provided below;
· 2,307 payments equating to £78 million to service personnel
· 1,558 payments equating to £33 million to others
It should be noted that this analysis reflects the volume of payments made and that individuals may receive more than one compensation payment depending on the settlement reached.
The remaining value will include payments made in settlement of contractual disputes where it has been judged that this represents the best value for money course of action for the Department. Two of these payments are separately disclosed in the table as they exceed the >£300,000 threshold for more detailed reporting (specifically MSI Instruments (£959,000) and Land Remediation Payment (£321,000).

The question and answer on the Parliament website.

Receipt

Read from	https://questions-statements-api.parliament.uk/api/writtenquestions/questions/1659063?expandMember=true
Date read	15 October 2026
SHA-256	`4a3f093da72591429b8e0e568eaa372e84e86b788a5fc59bf50344063b04f9a9`