§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the LOA and LSSA as it applies to personnel serving on Operation Telic. [96940]
§ Mr. IngramLocal Overseas Allowance (LOA) is not part of the military salary or a reward for overseas service, but a cost of living addition paid only in circumstances where personnel are likely to incur greater day-to-day expenditure overseas than they would in the United Kingdom. This is not generally the case for those deployed on operations.
Those personnel who are temporarily deployed away from their permanent, LOA earning, duty station, and no longer incurring the full range of additional costs associated with that station, still have on-going financial commitments overseas, and many have families who remain at the permanent duty station. Consequently, all Service personnel continue to receive the full LOA rate for the first 17 days of their deployment. Additionally, married accompanied personnel continue to receive 139W their full LOA rate unless their accompanying spouse also leaves the permanent duty station for more than 17 days, at which point an abatement of approximately 35 per cent. is applied. Single or married unaccompanied personnel lose 20 per cent. of their full LOA rate after the first 17 days.
Personnel on Operation Telic who meet the eligibility criteria will receive Longer Separated Service Allowance (LSSA) or (for those serving in seagoing units) Longer Service at Sea Bonus (LSSB). These allowances compensate personnel, regardless of marital status, for the effects of separation from home life. They are paid at three rates dependent upon periods of accumulated separation. LSSA is paid for unbroken periods of separation of 10 days or more, while LSSB is paid continuously while in qualifying units. Bonuses are available for those who experience very high levels of accumulated separation and these will be increased to £1,250. In order to reduce the incidence of junior personnel experiencing more than one operational tour without compensation for separation, MOD will reduce the initial qualifying period for LSSA from 18 months'service to 12 months. We are also about to increase the higher rate of LSSB and to reduce the qualifying criteria for LSSB bonuses.
The decision to enhance these separation allowances reflects the Ministry of Defence's wish to target those on operations, particularly our most junior personnel. In view of the current operational deployment, it has been decided to introduce the changes with effect from 1 March 2003, following a recommendation by the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body.