§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the levels of pay for personnel on active service in the armed forces in Bosnia; and if he will make a statement. [153071]
§ Mr. SpellarI refer the hon. Member to the Thirtieth Report 2001 of the independent Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) (Cm4993), published on 9 February 2001, the recommendations of which have360W been accepted by the Government and become effective from 1 April 2001. Copies of the Report have been placed in the Library of the House.
UK service personnel receive the same level of basic pay regardless of where they are serving. Levels of service pay are based on the recommendations of the AFPRB who work on the principle of broad comparability with the pay of civilian jobs of similar weight and responsibility (derived by job evaluation) against a number of factors. An additional element called "the X-factor" (currently 13 per cent. of basic pay) is then added to basic pay in order to reflect the differences between conditions of service experienced by members of the armed forces and conditions in civilian life which cannot be taken into account when assessing pay comparability. X-factor is paid to all ranks, except the most senior officers, regardless of unit or location and is also pensionable.
It is recognised, however, that service personnel can only be compensated for a certain amount of separation from their base through the X-Factor. Therefore, service personnel who have served for more than three years and who are deployed, for example, to Bosnia, for over 10 consecutive days will also qualify for the Longer Separated Service Allowance (LSSA). LSSA is a taxable allowance, the level of which varies depending on the number of days spent away from home. Rates of LSSA effective from 1 April 2001 are also outlined in the AFPRB's 2001 Report.
In addition to pay, there is also a package of measures to cover the welfare of troops deployed to Bosnia. These include the provision of publicly funded books, newspapers, telephone calls home, concessionary parcel rates, family travel and leave.