The Government has
accepted the recommendations of the independent Armed Forces’ Pay
Review Body and will implement them in full. This will mean a 2%
rise in Armed Forces pay from 1 April 2010.
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has also announced today an
increase to the Operational Allowance given to deployed personnel
to £2,640 over a standard six-month tour, up from £2,380. This is
not part of the AFPRB measures.
As a result of the increases announced today, a Private soldier
deploying on their first operation will now receive:
• Basic pay between £17,015 - £26,405.
• £2,640 tax free
Operational Allowance over a six month tour.
• A minimum of
£1,218 in Longer Separation Allowance over a six month tour.
This brings the minimum that a Private soldier deploying on
operations could receive to £20,873.
The pay award means that an extra £196 million will be spent on
pay for the Armed Forces.
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said:
“We ask a huge amount from our Armed Forces, both while deployed
on operations and at home. They have never failed to meet those
demands with courage and professionalism and this pay rise is well-deserved.”
Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup
said:
“Our people carry a huge burden on behalf of the
nation and it is crucial that they are justly rewarded for that.
This pay rise is a welcome and appropriate acknowledgment of the
work they do on behalf of the country, often in the most dangerous
and demanding of circumstances.”
Other key recommendations accepted by the MOD include:
• Targeted measures, including the introduction of financial
retention incentives to retain personnel essential to delivering
key operational capability.
• The extension of the provisions, which allow those serving on
certain seagoing vessels to receive Longer Separation Allowance
(LSA), to include all Service personnel operating under similar
arrangements under field and shipboard conditions.
• A reduction of the LSA minimum entitlement threshold from ten
to seven days continuous separation.
• The extension of Unpleasant Living Allowance to cover Service
personnel living and operating from Forward Operating Bases and
Patrol Bases in Afghanistan.
Notes for Editors:
1. The Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body (AFPRB) is an independent
group comprising nine members and the Chairman, Professor David
Greenaway. It reports annually on levels of pay for the Armed Forces.
2. The AFPRB announcement increases basic military salary for all
Service personnel (including Reserves), specialist pay, some
allowances and Reserves’ Bounties of 2%. It does not include
Service medical and dental officers and senior officers above the
rank of Brigadier or equivalent, whose salaries are the subject of
separate Review Body reports.
3. The AFPRB bases its recommendations on broad comparability
with similarly weighted civilian jobs. The Review Body gathers
evidence from a wide variety of sources and takes account of a
number of factors including Government evidence.
4. The Operational Allowance is a daily rate paid to personnel
who deploy on operations at the end of their tour. Over a standard
six-month tour this will now amount to a tax-free lump sum of £2,640.
5. A table showing the examples of pay rates follows at Annex A.
6. For more information, please contact Tom Bennett in the MOD
Press Office on 020 7218 7931 or visit www.mod.uk
Contacts:
Ministry of Defence
NDS.MOD@coi.gsi.gov.uk