HC Deb 09 February 1977 vol 925 cc721-2W
Mr. Hordern

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the date when pensions were first introduced for members of the Armed Forces; and whether provision was made for those who had completed 10 years' service before the introduction of the pension schemes.

Mr. Duffy

Some form of superannuation has been in existence for the Armed Forces for a very long time; for instance, it is possible to go back as far as the seventeenth century for the Royal Navy and the eighteenth century for the Army, although disability pensions had been earlier introduced. Acts of 1865 (Navy), 1884 (Army) and 1917 (Air Force) codified the various rules, and these Acts are still at the foundation of the modern Armed Forces Pension Scheme. This evolving historical process makes it very difficult to establish whether there was ever an initial 10-year qualifying period.

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