Pension Benefits (Hansard, 13 January 2003)

§ Dr. Moonie

All Service personnel receive basic information about the benefits offered by the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) when they join the armed forces and further information, notably a statement of benefits accrued, when they leave. We also provide advice on the AFPS and the financial aspects of resettlement through briefings by specially mandated independent financial advisers. These presentations are not restricted to Service leavers; they are available to any member of the armed forces at any stage in his or her career. They are normally delivered at Regional Resettlement Centres, nine of which are in the United Kingdom, while the other is in Germany. Pensioners also receive an annual newsletter from Paymaster, the contractor responsible for paying their pensions, updating them on any changes that might affect them.

The basic information material on the scheme had become out-dated and was not simply written. We have therefore been revising it and, in late autumn 2002, we issued to all serving members of the armed forces a pack containing a straightforward, easy-to-read new guide to the current AFPS and a short, pocket-sized summary which also gives the current pension code rates, details of additional booklets in the series and useful contacts. The general guide was tested with key ex-Service organisations and with representative Service personnel, and is now available on the MOD web and the internet. It will be issued to all new recruits when they commence their initial training. The pocket-sized brief will be updated and reissued annually, again on an individual basis, to incorporate each year's new pension code rates.

Five supplementary booklets covering specialised pension topics were published at the same time; these are available to serving military personnel on request and can also be found on the internet and MOD intranet. Copies of the pack and the five booklets will shortly be placed in the Library of the House. A further three booklets are currently being written to complete the series; these are due to be published in late spring this year and will also be available electronically. This series of booklets has been publicised to ex-Service organisations, notably the Forces Pensions Society. However, they may not be relevant to all veterans, given the changes to pension benefits over time, and do not replace the information that will have been communicated to ex-Service personnel during their time in service and at the point when they left the armed forces.

In addition to this general information on the Services' occupational pension schemes and the benefits they offer, specific information exercises are undertaken where changes take place affecting the entitlement of Service or ex-Service personnel. Examples of this include information on changes with respect to transfer rights between pension schemes, and on the introduction of Stakeholder pensions and pension-sharing on divorce.

408W

The War Pension Scheme is administered separately and, in addition to the AFPS, provides Service personnel with compensation for injury or illness attributable to service. We inform serving armed forces personnel of the provisions of the War Pension Scheme through their leaving-packs and, since the transfer of the Veterans Agency (VA) to the Ministry of Defence, the War Pensioners Welfare Service (WPWS) have attended resettlement events to give advice. In order to raise veterans' awareness of the War Pensions Scheme, we issue a range of information leaflets and posters to a variety of outlets such as post offices, regimental museums and GP surgeries. The VA works closely with ex-Service organisations and the War Pension Committees. In addition, the VA website contains comprehensive information and the WPWS holds advice days and surgeries using a mobile advice unit to reach more remote areas.