HC Deb 16 May 1996 vol 277 cc517-8W
Mr. Robert G. Hughes

To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement about the pay of medical and dental officers in the armed forces. [30149]

The Prime Minister

The Armed Forces pay review body has made recommendations on the pay of medial and dental officers in the armed forces in a supplementary report being published today. Copies are available in the Vote Office and the Library of the House.

The review body recommends that the daily rate of basic pay should be increased by an average of 3.8 per cent. from 1 April. Further it recommends that, along with other military personnel, the x-factor, which compensates for the balance of disadvantage of service life, should be increased by 0.5 per cent. to 12 per cent. The review body has also recommended increases in consultant pay, which are designed to improve retention in this area.

The Government have decided to accept the review body's recommendations but to stage their introduction in the same way as the earlier recommendations of the Armed Forces pay review body, and the recommendations of most of the other review bodies. The full award less 1 per cent. will be back-dated to 1 April, and the remainder will be paid from 1 December.