Major general trial told school fees rule was 'flexible'

Maj Gen Nick Welch retired in 2018 as Assistant Chief of the General Staff

Rules about payments for the education of the children of military staff were not strictly enforced and were set to change, a court martial has heard.

Retired Maj Gen Nick Welch, 57, denies falsely claiming to live in London rather than close to his children's boarding schools in Dorset.

Prosecutors said he illegally claimed £48,000.

An internal Ministry of Defence (MoD) email read in court said there was "flexibility" over the rules.

The Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) allows children to remain at the same schools to enable their serving parent to be accompanied by their spouse as they are posted to different locations.

At Bulford Military Court, the prosecution claimed Maj Gen Welch had applied for the allowance on the basis both he and his wife would not be living close to the children's schools in Dorset.

Current policy states CEA could not be claimed if a soldier's spouse is away from the military home for more than 90 days per year, the court heard.

The prosecution claims Maj Gen Welch's wife, Charlotte, actually spent most of her time at a cottage in Blandford Forum, Dorset, close to the £37,000-a-year Clayesmore School and the £22,500-a-year Hanford School.

But the court was read an internal MoD email that stated: "We will introduce more flexibility to allow [absences] beyond the 90-day point. In practice we are already doing this in casework."

Explaining the email, Andrew Beer of the MoD said the rule was a "guide" to the commanding officer (CO).

"There will be a lot of occasions where it's perfectly appropriate for this to exceed 90 days and the CO can make a decision on that accordingly," he added.

Maj Gen Welch denies the charge and his barrister, Sarah Jones QC, has told the court the CEA rules were a "mess" and he and his wife had not acted dishonestly.