Terms of reference

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the sponsoring department.

Minister for Defence People and Veterans (Min(DPV)) will task IMEG, receive its reports and prepare the government’s response, and will make the final decision on appointments. Min(DPV) and the Chair will meet at least once per year. Officials from the relevant policy area will provide Secretariat support.

IMEG’s role is to advise Min(DPV) on medical and scientific aspects of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and related matters. Min(DPV) will task the Chair directly with issues on which advice is requested. Issues raised in writing by any source, including members of the public and the service and ex-service communities will be noted by the Secretariat and discussed with the Chair and Min(DPV) in developing the forward work programme.

IMEG will investigate the issues on which advice is requested, reach conclusions and make recommendations based on evidence. This evidence will comprise independent, published, peer reviewed scientific and medical literature. In addition, IMEG will consult other experts and invite interested parties to submit relevant research. IMEG will not commission research.

IMEG will meet at least 4 times per year. In addition, the Chair and Secretariat will consider whether to hold one public meeting per year to explain IMEG’s work. Additional meetings of the whole group may be held, depending on business need, and might take the form of a formal meeting, visit or consultation. In addition, business will be conducted via correspondence and smaller bilateral expert meetings. Some meetings may be conducted virtually via video or telephone conferencing.

The IMEG Chair will be a member of the statutorily established Central Advisory Committee on Compensation (CAC), that advises Min(DPV). The Chair will present the advice of the Group to Min(DPV) as a member of the CAC.

IMEG’s advice, in the form of reports, and the Government’s decisions in relation to them, will be published on the gov.uk website.

In accordance with Cabinet Office guidance on NDPBs MOD will carry out formal reviews of IMEG.

IMEG will comprise of:

  • a Chair who is medically qualified and completely independent of the Ministry of Defence, having not previously worked either in the Department or been a member of the armed forces
  • 7 members who are on the Medical Register and are senior medical consultants drawn from relevant specialties, including:
    • trauma/orthopaedics
    • neurology
    • audio vestibular/audiological medicine
    • occupational medicine
    • mental health
  • a member representing the ex-service organisations
  • 3 ex officio members:
    • The Chief of Defence Personnel’s Medical Adviser
    • a service representative who sits on the CAC
    • an injured person who has claimed under the AFCS
  • a representative of the Surgeon General as an observer

The Group will be able to draw on external expert advice where required.

Appointments will usually be for 3 years and a maximum of 10 years. The Chair or Min(DPV) may end an appointment at any time. The performance of the Chair will be appraised annually by the Secretariat and People-ACDS-PersCap DSSec. The performance of IMEG members will be appraised once during each 3 year term by the Chair and the Secretariat to provide evidence when re-appointments are to be considered.

Members are expected to attend meetings personally and may not be represented by others. Members are expected to attend at least 3 of the 4 meetings.

The roles will not be remunerated, but the MOD will reimburse reasonable travel and subsistence expenses.

The Chair and members will be expected to follow the 7 principles of public life, a text of which will be provided with the appointment letter. They will also be required to adhere to the IMEG Code of Practice (to be derived from Model Codes of Practice for Board Members of Advisory NDPBs, in CO NDPB Guide) and declare any interests to be kept in a register of interests by the Secretariat.