§ Mr. HepburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the report and recommendations of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body. [150175]
§ Mr. HoonThe 2001 report of the Armed orces Pay Review Body has been published today. Copies of the report are available in the Vote Office and the Library of the House. I wish to thank the chairman and members of the review body for their hard work in producing this report.
The AFPRB has recommended an increase in basic military salary of 3.7 per cent. for all ranks. The AFPRB has also recommended increases in the rates of additional pay (eg flying pay, submarine pay and diving pay) in the reserves' bounties, and in charges.
These recommendations fully support the armed forces strategic personnel policies, in particular in relation to recruitment and retention. The additional cost to the defence budget will be £222 million. This will be met within existing departmental expenditure limits.
The AFPRB's recommendations are to be accepted in full with implementation effective from 1 April 2001.
In addition, alongside the copies of the review body's report, I have placed in the Library a copy of a supplementary letter from the chairman of the AFPRB recommending the introduction of two financial retention incentives for certain categories of aircrew. The additional cost of these measures will be £16.8 million in 2001–02, which will also be met within existing departmental expenditure limits.