To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they facilitate home leave in the home country of United Kingdom military personnel when their home country is not the United Kingdom. [HL5209]

Several schemes exist to facilitate home leave outside the UK: Domiciled Collective Leave (DOMCOL), DOMCOL Substitute, Get You Home (Early Years) (Overseas Assistance) and Commonwealth Enlistment Compassionate Travel (COMECT).

The DOMCOL scheme grants authorised periods of absence to visit the country of domicile to eligible service personnel. Dependent on certain conditions, personnel are eligible for 45 working days’ leave in their home country, with travel at public expense, on completion of each five years’ service outside the home country.

DOMCOL Substitute allows those personnel who are not eligible for DOMCOL to accumulate up to 25 per cent of annual leave to enable them to visit their home country at their own expense.

Service personnel in their first three years of service serving in the UK can make use of the Get You Home (Early Years) (Overseas Assistance) scheme which provides a contribution towards one return journey a year for the first three years of service to a qualifying address abroad.