Veteran ‘forced out’ of Army seeks scheme amendment
Army veteran Louise Lingard-Snape is asking the Ministry of Defence to amend its LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme so it covers people who were constructively dismissed. She says bullying linked to the historic ban on LGBT personnel forced her to leave, and argues that veterans in her position are being excluded from fixed compensation.
Lingard-Snape, 58, served as an Army musician for 15 years and left in 1999. The ban affected LGBT personnel from 1967 to 2000; the scheme, launched in 2024, offers payments from £1,000 to £70,000, including a £50,000 flat-rate payment for some who were dismissed. The MOD says those not formally discharged may still qualify for impact payments of up to £20,000, with applications due by 12 December.
In short
- Louise Lingard-Snape wants constructive dismissal included in the scheme.
- The scheme offers eligible veterans payments of up to £70,000.
- The MOD says some may qualify for impact payments up to £20,000.
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The case for
The scheme should recognise that constructive dismissal can cause the same lasting harm as formal discharge: bullying linked to the ban may have left people with no realistic option but to leave. Excluding them from fixed compensation risks treating veterans differently because of how their service ended, even when the underlying injustice was similar.
The case against
A scheme with defined eligibility rules can provide compensation consistently and be administered within a set budget; extending fixed payments to people who resigned could require difficult judgements about whether departure was truly forced and how directly it stemmed from the ban. The MOD also says those not formally discharged may qualify for impact payments, offering a route to recognition while preserving the scheme’s existing categories.