Pension Justice for Troops

Responsible department: Ministry of Defence

On 12 June 2012, the MoD announced the redundancies of over three thousand service personnel. Of this figure a number were within twelve months of their immediate pension point.

These redundancies do not honour the original employment contract or covenant between soldier and the MoD. These men and women have all faithfully served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces and repeatedly risked their lives on different tours of duty, with the expectation that, when they completed their period of service, they would be eligible for a pension on which to build a new life for themselves and their families. Given future planned redundancies in the forces this issue is likely to affect many more service personnel.

We call on the Government to urgently review these cases to ensure natural justice and provide the opportunity for all affected personnel to serve the extra year, or less, to reach their immediate pension point as set out in their original contracts of employment.