HC Deb 15 April 1946 vol 421 cc385-90W
Lieutenant-Colonel Bromley-Davenport

asked the Secretary of State for War whether a decision has now been reached on the reassessment of the retired pay and pensions of officers and other ranks who have given fulltime service in the Armed Forces in the 1939–45 war.

Mr. Lawson:

Yes, Sir. A scheme for the reassessment of these awards has now been approved. The details arc as follow:

REASSESSMENT OF SERVICE RETIRED PAY AND PENSIONS IN RESPECT OF WAR SERVICE

The new Service retired pay and Service pension codes for Regular members of the Forces which were announced in the White Papers Cmd. 6715 and Cmd. 6750 apply to those who were serving on the active list on 19th December, 1945. The White Papers however contained a promise of consideration of the position of officers and other ranks who had retired or been pensioned before that date, and who had given full-time service in the Armed Forces in the 1939–45 war.

It has now been decided to reassess the existing pensions of those who were awarded service retired pay or pension before r9th December, 1945, by the grant of additions in respect of their 1939–45 war service, on the general lines set out below.

In framing this scheme it has been necessary to take into account that the re-employed retired officer or pensioned other rank has drawn in the one case a special bonus normally in the form of an addition of 25 per cent. to his pay, and in the other service pension in addition to pay, specifically in place of counting the re-employed service for increase of pension. It has nevertheless been decided to allow increases of retired pay and pension to these classes, modified to take account of the special benefits they thus received.

Conditions for reassessment

1. The reassessment will be in respect of satisfactory full-time paid naval, military, or air force service during the 1939–45 war, or equivalent service in the Forces of a Dominion or Colony. No other service will be taken into account.

2. A minimum of six months such service will be necessary.

3. The total service, including reemployed service, must he such as would confer an entitlement to service retired pay or pension under the new code.

Other rank pensioners

The addition to the original pension will be the difference between

  1. (a) the service pension for which the pensioner would have been eligible under the new code on the whole of his service, including service while a pensioner, and taking into account the ranks held during service while a pensioner, and
  2. (b) the service pension for which he would have been eligible on the whole of his service under the old code, had his service while a pensioner been given in the highest rank for which he originally earned rank element of pension.

The following examples illustrate the effect of the above:

(1) A staff sergeant pensioned before the war after 21 years' service who served again for six years during the war (continuing to draw his pension) and rose to the rank of warrant officer, class I, would receive an addition of 10s. 6d. a week to his existing pension of 28s. a week, giving him a new award of 38s. 6d. a week.

(2) A warrant officer class 11 pensioned for the first time on release in 1945, after 25 years' service, would receive an addition of 6s. 7d. a week to his existing award of 36s. 2d. a week, giving him a new pension of 42s. 9d. a week.

Other rank pensioners commissioned during re-employment

The addition to the original pension will be calculated as for other ranks, but in assessing the entitlement under the new code the officer service will carry a special rank element at the following rates, in addition to the normal service element:

For each year as Rank element.
2nd Lieutenant and Lieutenant or equivalent ranks in the other services 1s. 9d.a week
Captain 2s. 3d.a week
Major 2s. 9d.a week
Lieut. Colonel 3s. 3d.a week
Colonel 3s. 9d.a week

Ratings, R.N., re-employed in Warrant rank will have a similar special rank element of Is. 3d. a week for each year of such service.

As an example, a sergeant pensioned after 21 years' service before the war, who served again for five years during the war (continuing to draw his pension) for three of which he held a commission rising to the rank of Captain, would receive an addition of 15s. 2d. a week to his existing pension of 26s. 6d. a week, giving him a new award of 41s. 8d. a week.

Retired Officers.

The addition to the original retired pay will consist of a proportion of the difference between

(a) the retired pay rate which would have been applicable under the new code had the officer continued to serve consecutively beyond the date of his retirement for a period equivalent to the length of his re-employment, and then retired from the original cause, and

(b) the existing retired pay entitlement including "automatic" pensions increase.

The proportion of the difference to be added will be calculated as follows:

For each year of active list service during the war One sixth
For each year of re-employed service during the war, during which a bonus on pay or corresponding benefit has been drawn One-twellth

Not more than six years of war service will be allowed to reckon in any case. In calculating reckonable years, a period of six months or more will count as a full year, while a period of less than six months will be ignored. An officer who retired during the war, and continued in service as a re-employed officer will carry over, to reckon as re-employed service, any fraction of a year of active list service.

The effect is thus that an officer who served continuously during the war and then retired will get full reassessment to the new terms, while an officer who was re-employed throughout the war (receiving a bonus on his pay) will be given half the difference between his existing award and the new scale award.

As examples of the effect of the above scheme:

(1)A lieutenant- colonel who retired before the war and who was reemployed for six years during the war (during which he received a 25 per cent addition to his pay) holding the temporary rank of colonel for three years, would receive an addition of £120 12s. 9d a year to his existing retired pay of £583 14s. 6d. a year, making his new award £704 7s, 3d a year.

(2) A lieutenant-colonel retired in 1945 on retired pay of £583 14s. 6d. a year would now receive an addition of £41 5s. 6d. to his retired pay giving him a new award of £625 a year.

General

In view of these arrangements for the reassessment of retired pay, the addition to the pay of re-employed officers will be withdrawn with effect from 1st July, 1946.

There will be no reassessment of the award in the case of officers who were re-employed after retirement with gratuity.

The retired pay or pension reassessed as above in respect of war service will be regarded as a new code pension, and will be subject to the conditions attaching to awards under the new code as set out in the White Papers. The reassessed pension will not carry Pensions Increase additions or, in the case of other ranks, age increases.

Reassessment of retired pay and pensions as above will be undertaken automatically and will be operative from 19th December, 1945. It will however necessarily take a considerable time to complete the re-assessments and notify them to the retired officers and pensioners concerned. In the meantime retired pay and pensions will continue in issue at existing rates.

In the White Papers referred to above, the position of certain categories of officers and other ranks was reserved. For the time being, therefore, these reserved categories are also excluded from the scope of this announcement.

Note.—The examples included above are typical, but the effect of the reassessment scheme will of course vary according to the circumstances of the individual case.