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432729

registered interest
date	26/11/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 33 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, if he will set out the elements of the new pay model for members of the armed forces.
tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
uin	17898
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2015 answer text <p>We will provide further updates on Armed Forces Pay Reform in 2016.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt grouped question UIN 17899 question first answered 03/12/2015 16:26:03 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

432732

registered interest
date	26/11/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what cost savings his Department plans to make from phasing out the commitment bonus for members of the armed forces.
tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
uin	17900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/11/2015 answer text <p>The estimated saving from phasing out the commitment bonus for members of the Armed Forces is £118 million over the remainder of this Parliament and some £50 million a year thereafter.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 30/11/2015 17:00:13 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

432734

registered interest
date	26/11/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of how many serving members of each branch of the armed forces are likely to be affected by the phasing out of the commitment bonus for armed forces personnel.
tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
uin	17901
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2015 answer text <p>Commitment Bonuses are being phased out over the next five years as there is insufficient evidence they significantly influence retention in the Armed Forces.</p><p>In Financial Year 2014-15 approximately 14,000 Service personnel claimed a Commitment Bonus payment. Eligibility for Commitment Bonuses ceases with effect from 1April 2021, providing eligible Other Ranks with the opportunity to claim any payments they might have already included in their financial plans.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster grouped question UIN 17903 question first answered 01/12/2015 16:33:52 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

432737

registered interest
date	26/11/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how he plans to reinvest the savings achieved by phasing out the commitment bonus for members of the armed forces in the armed forces.
tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
uin	17902
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2015 answer text <p>The savings generated by the decision to phase out commitment bonuses for the Armed Forces form part of the overall Ministry of Defence efficiency package for this Parliament.</p><p>As detailed in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Cm 9161), efficiency savings will enable investment in a broad range of high-priority capabilities such as counter-terrorism and military surveillance to help protect the UK and our interests abroad, the procurement of a fleet of maritime patrol aircraft to increase further the protection of our nuclear deterrent and our new aircraft carriers, and funding to ensure our Armed Forces continue to be provided with the equipment they need and force protection when they are deployed.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 01/12/2015 16:33:15 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

432739

registered interest
date	26/11/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what timetable he has set for phasing out the commitment bonus for members of the armed forces.
tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
uin	17903
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2015 answer text <p>Commitment Bonuses are being phased out over the next five years as there is insufficient evidence they significantly influence retention in the Armed Forces.</p><p>In Financial Year 2014-15 approximately 14,000 Service personnel claimed a Commitment Bonus payment. Eligibility for Commitment Bonuses ceases with effect from 1April 2021, providing eligible Other Ranks with the opportunity to claim any payments they might have already included in their financial plans.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster grouped question UIN 17901 question first answered 01/12/2015 16:33:52 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

432220

registered interest
date	25/11/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the projected savings for his Department arising from military pay restraint in the 2015-16 financial year and in each of the next five such years; and what proportion of those savings will arise from (a) pay rises limited to one per cent and (b) the ending of military commitment bonuses.
tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
uin	17753
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/11/2015 answer text <br /><p>The estimated military paybill saving in 2015-16 from pay restraint is £98 million.</p><br /><p>The Summer Budget confirmed that the Government would fund public sector pay awards at 1% for four years from 2016-17 onwards. The estimated military pay saving is £1.8 billion over the next five years as detailed below.</p><p>Figures are all in £millions.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>2016-17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019-20</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020-21</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="5"><p><br></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>180</p></td><td><p>366</p></td><td><p>602</p></td><td><p>625</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Commitment bonuses which have not proven effective are to be withdrawn in full with effect from 1 April 2021. The estimated saving from ending commitment bonuses is £118 million over the next five years as detailed below.</p><p>Figures are all in £millions.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>2016-17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019-20</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020-21</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="5"><p><br></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>35</p></td><td><p>48</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 30/11/2015 17:04:22 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

432226

registered interest
date	25/11/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to change the payment of annual increments to military staff between 2015-16 and 2020-21.
tabling member constituency	Garston and Halewood
tabling member printed	Maria Eagle
uin	17751
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/11/2015 answer text <p>This Government has no plans to remove incremental pay or annual pay increases for serving members of the Armed Forces.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 30/11/2015 16:54:23 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	483 label Biography information for Maria Eagle

427067

registered interest
date	09/11/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government's policy is on the provision of incremental annual pay rises for personnel of the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	15679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2015 answer text <p>As part of its New Employment Model programme, Defence is developing a new pay model which will be simpler, more transparent and provide Service personnel with greater pay predictability, removing some of the unpopular and divisive features of the current pay model. However, the details of this new pay model, including incremental progression arrangements, cannot be finalised until the outcome of the Spending Review is known.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 16/11/2015 17:16:36 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

223910

registered interest
date	26/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel have been overpaid after they applied for accelerated incremental progression payments; how much has been overpaid; how much will have to be paid back by service personnel; what the average amount to be repaid by a serviceman or woman is; and by what date such repayments must be made.
tabling member constituency	Moray
tabling member printed	Angus Robertson
uin	225641
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2015 answer text <p>Accelerated Incremental Progression (AIP) allows a Service person an immediate progression in their pay level as a result of a work-related course or a qualification. Each individual can qualify and claim for two AIPs during their career, at a point of their choosing.</p><p> </p><p>Our Service personnel do a difficult job and it is important they receive accurate pay for the hard work they do. While the majority of awards are made correctly, misinterpretation of the published qualifying criteria for AIP has resulted in some individuals receiving an incorrect award. Unfortunately, payment errors occur occasionally. We obviously regret such occurrences. It is right that we correct identified errors and ask for repayment of monies wrongly received. Allowing individuals to keep money that they are not entitled to would be unfair to both taxpayers and other Service personnel who did not receive this payment. It would also be inconsistent with HM Treasury instructions on the management of public money.</p><p> </p><p>If an individual overpayment to a Service person is equal to or less than four days’ gross pay then the full sum is recovered, without notification, from the next monthly salary payment. For overpayments greater than four days’ gross pay, a notification is made on the next available monthly payslip that a debt has been incurred. Recovery action is then scheduled after two subsequent pay periods, and any overpayments recovered are made at no more than four days’ gross pay per month.</p><p> </p><p>Service personnel who wish to challenge the reason for any recovery of an overpayment may submit a case through their Chain of Command to Defence Business Services.　In addition, processes are in place for Service personnel: to agree to pay back any overpayment over a shorter period; to make a formal objection against recovery on hardship or other grounds and; to argue that the debt be written off or repaid over a longer period. All recoveries are postponed while casework or objections are being considered.</p><p> </p><p>Errors in the payment of AIP are dealt with in the same way as any other payment error - the account is corrected and any overpayment recovered. The calculation of money owed is simply the difference between what has been paid and what should have been paid had the error not occurred. AIP does not occur at a particular rate or have a defined cash value.</p><p> </p><p>Courses and qualifications which are eligible for AIP payments are listed in Joint Service Publication (JSP) 754 (Tri-Service Regulations for Pay and Charges), which is updated biannually as required to meet Service manning requirements. The single Services are responsible for decisions on which courses or qualifications should qualify for AIP payments. It is not possible to quantify the number of people who may have erroneously applied for AIP payments on the basis of the criteria relevant to any particular edition of this JSP. Overpayments can occur for a number of reasons which do not necessarily arise from changes to eligibility criteria set out in JSP 754, although erroneous claims for courses which are no longer eligible can be a factor.</p><p> </p><p>Information about the number of Service personnel who have repaid money as a result of AIP payment errors since 2010 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, our records indicate that 488 Army personnel who received erroneous AIP payments have repaid or are making repayments and 423 Royal Navy personnel who received an overpayment through the misapplication of Qualification Points have repaid or are making repayments. Additionally, approximately 1,500 Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel have been identified as having received erroneous AIP payments, which are required to be repaid; this represents 15% of all RAF AIP payments made.</p><p> </p><p>The total that has been overpaid and which is being paid back is in the region of £3.1 million. Each Service person or ex-Service person is required to repay the amount owed. As described above, each case may be subject to challenges and objections. The average amount to be repaid per person is in the region of £1,285 and the date by which payment must be paid varies according to the specific circumstances of each case.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry grouped question UIN 225421 225422 225423 225424 225642 225643 question first answered 04/03/2015 17:39:09 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1433 label Biography information for Angus Robertson

223912

registered interest
date	26/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of forgiving debt owed by service personnel who applied for accelerated incremental progression.
tabling member constituency	Moray
tabling member printed	Angus Robertson
uin	225642
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2015 answer text <p>Accelerated Incremental Progression (AIP) allows a Service person an immediate progression in their pay level as a result of a work-related course or a qualification. Each individual can qualify and claim for two AIPs during their career, at a point of their choosing.</p><p> </p><p>Our Service personnel do a difficult job and it is important they receive accurate pay for the hard work they do. While the majority of awards are made correctly, misinterpretation of the published qualifying criteria for AIP has resulted in some individuals receiving an incorrect award. Unfortunately, payment errors occur occasionally. We obviously regret such occurrences. It is right that we correct identified errors and ask for repayment of monies wrongly received. Allowing individuals to keep money that they are not entitled to would be unfair to both taxpayers and other Service personnel who did not receive this payment. It would also be inconsistent with HM Treasury instructions on the management of public money.</p><p> </p><p>If an individual overpayment to a Service person is equal to or less than four days’ gross pay then the full sum is recovered, without notification, from the next monthly salary payment. For overpayments greater than four days’ gross pay, a notification is made on the next available monthly payslip that a debt has been incurred. Recovery action is then scheduled after two subsequent pay periods, and any overpayments recovered are made at no more than four days’ gross pay per month.</p><p> </p><p>Service personnel who wish to challenge the reason for any recovery of an overpayment may submit a case through their Chain of Command to Defence Business Services.　In addition, processes are in place for Service personnel: to agree to pay back any overpayment over a shorter period; to make a formal objection against recovery on hardship or other grounds and; to argue that the debt be written off or repaid over a longer period. All recoveries are postponed while casework or objections are being considered.</p><p> </p><p>Errors in the payment of AIP are dealt with in the same way as any other payment error - the account is corrected and any overpayment recovered. The calculation of money owed is simply the difference between what has been paid and what should have been paid had the error not occurred. AIP does not occur at a particular rate or have a defined cash value.</p><p> </p><p>Courses and qualifications which are eligible for AIP payments are listed in Joint Service Publication (JSP) 754 (Tri-Service Regulations for Pay and Charges), which is updated biannually as required to meet Service manning requirements. The single Services are responsible for decisions on which courses or qualifications should qualify for AIP payments. It is not possible to quantify the number of people who may have erroneously applied for AIP payments on the basis of the criteria relevant to any particular edition of this JSP. Overpayments can occur for a number of reasons which do not necessarily arise from changes to eligibility criteria set out in JSP 754, although erroneous claims for courses which are no longer eligible can be a factor.</p><p> </p><p>Information about the number of Service personnel who have repaid money as a result of AIP payment errors since 2010 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, our records indicate that 488 Army personnel who received erroneous AIP payments have repaid or are making repayments and 423 Royal Navy personnel who received an overpayment through the misapplication of Qualification Points have repaid or are making repayments. Additionally, approximately 1,500 Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel have been identified as having received erroneous AIP payments, which are required to be repaid; this represents 15% of all RAF AIP payments made.</p><p> </p><p>The total that has been overpaid and which is being paid back is in the region of £3.1 million. Each Service person or ex-Service person is required to repay the amount owed. As described above, each case may be subject to challenges and objections. The average amount to be repaid per person is in the region of £1,285 and the date by which payment must be paid varies according to the specific circumstances of each case.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry grouped question UIN 225421 225422 225423 225424 225641 225643 question first answered 04/03/2015 17:39:09 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1433 label Biography information for Angus Robertson