§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate has been made of the cost to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme of maintaining the early pension point; and if he will make a statement. [29494]
§ Mr. IngramUnder the terms of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, an Immediate Pension (IP) is paid to scheme members much earlier than most other schemes. This is to allow the services to retain the expertise of personnel who might otherwise leave during their thirties, while also recognising the needs of those to whom the services cannot offer further employment from around the age of 40.
In reviewing the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS), we have considered a number of alternatives to the current IP point and their effect on recruitment and retention. It was concluded that any significant delay in the IP point would require costly alternative retention
16W
§ Mr. IngramThe information is not centrally held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However details on the current United Kingdom Trained Adult Personnel (UKTAP) manning state by arm/service as at 1 December 2001 are in the table.
measures likely to outweigh any savings from such a delay. The confidence of the services in the efficacy of the early IP as a well-proven manning tool led to the conclusion that it would not be sensible to undertake a costing of alternative measures or therefore a net costing of the early IP. The provisional conclusions of the review, issued for public consultation in March of last year, therefore recommended only a small change should be made to the IP point, to provide a common point at age 40 (or after 18 years service, whichever is later) for officers and other ranks.
§ Mr. PollardTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to assist ex-service men who were unable to join a pension scheme during their Army careers; and if he will make a statement. [28144]
§ Dr. MoonieThere are no plans to make retrospective pension provision for ex-service men who were unable to join a pension scheme during their service careers.
17WPrior to 1975, when the pension arrangements for the armed forces were brought into line with the Social Security Act 1973, there were no legal requirements for pensions to be preserved for those who left before meeting the qualifying period for payment of pension. Officers leaving the service without completing 16 years' service after age 21 and other ranks leaving without completing 22 years' service after age 18 were not entitled to a pension. Officers who left with between nine and 16 years of service and other ranks with between 12 and 22 years of service were, however, paid a gratuity in lieu of pension. Those who left with less service had no pension rights.
There was no distinction between service personnel and members of both public and private pension schemes with regard to the fact that there was no requirement until 1975
1 November 1998 to 31 October 1999 1 November 1999 to 31 October 2000 1 November 2000 to 31 October 2001 Naval Service and Royal Marines 327 322 278 Army 433 445 461 RAF 450 420 524 Royal Marine figures are only held as part of the Royal Navy figures.