It gives me great pleasure to announce the introduction of the Wider Service Medal to the House today, a new medal to recognise the service of personnel outside the traditional 'risk and rigour' criteria of existing medals.

The Wider Service Medal represents a significant change in medallic recognition for the UK Armed Forces, and on occasions other public servants, acknowledging the evolving context within which our personnel operate. The medal ensures that the operational impact of many activities, previously considered out of scope for medallic recognition, is now able to be recognised.

The overarching eligibility criteria for the medal is defined as follows:

• Operational activity where there is evidence of operational impact, non-physical risk, and rigour.

• Personnel must have accrued 180 days’ aggregated service on eligible operations. Subsequent service of 180 days will result in the award of a bar to the medal, up to a maximum of three bars.

• The medal will be retrospective to December 2018 for ongoing operations.

The medal is evidence of our gratitude and respect for the dedication of our Armed Forces, and other public servants, and recognises the diverse roles our personnel play in the defence of our nation. The initial tranche of medals will be awarded in the early summer.