Member

The consequence of all this is that government has lost the confidence of much of the veteran community through a deficient and poorly executed contract. Clearly, the covenant is not being fulfilled. Can my noble friend the Minister tell us that he is seized with the significance of the problems these veterans face and give assurances that the Armed Forces covenant does apply to the operation of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, whoever is responsible, and that the people suffering will not have to bear the burden? Will he consider writing off overpayments where the pensioner has acted in good faith and the error lies with the administration? Will he ask Defence Business Services to ensure that future contracts make proper provision for recovering losses from contractors where those contractors are responsible for the pension miscalculations?