Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the disparity in funding between the Gurkha Pension Scheme and pensions for UK members of the armed forces on the widows of Gurkhas.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
It is not possible to directly compare the two pension schemes as they are designed for different purposes, but both are fair. Legacy Gurkha pensions are different but are objectively and reasonably justified and suited the circumstances of the time. Gurkhas who left after 15 years' service will have received pension payments for over 25 years before most British soldiers of the same rank and length of service would receive a pension under the AFPS. In most cases the lifetime value of a pension provided under the legacy GPS is of a similar or higher value than a pension provided under the AFPS. Provision for widows is set at 60% of pension for the GPS and 50% under AFPS.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of providing Gurkhas on the Gurkha Pension Scheme a retrospective pension equivalent to their UK counterparts.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We do not make retrospective changes to public pensions. For most Gurkha veterans the 1948 legacy Gurkha Pension Scheme (GPS) provides a pension at least as good, and in many cases better, than that given to their British counterparts with identical periods of service. Our view is that the 1948 legacy GPS is a very fair scheme.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of a potential pay disparity between employees of the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory and those directly employed by his Department.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), is an Executive Agency of the MOD and operates a workforce model, distinct to that of the wider MOD, which reflects its specialist role.
MOD and Dstl have their own individual pay priorities. Dstl has delegated authority to determine the organisation's rates of pay and terms and conditions for civil servants, and to put arrangements in place that meets its particular needs, subject to the Civil Service Pay Guidance and Treasury approvals.
A pay benchmarking exercise was conducted in March 2020 that compared Dstl's pay ranges to broad MOD equivalents using a small sample of jobs and job families.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of staff have left the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The number of staff who have left Dstl since 2019 are set out in the table below:
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*To 26.11.2021
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish benchmarking data on the pay disparity between Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory staff and those directly employed by his Department.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), is an Executive Agency of the MOD and has delegated authority to manage its workforce arrangements to meet its objectives. Dstl’s organisational model is different to that of MOD as a result of its specialist role.
Dstl undertook a pay benchmarking exercise in 2020 that compared Dstl’s pay ranges to broad MOD equivalents. The benchmarking exercise was limited in that it used a small sample of jobs and job families. The data, from March 2020, relates to pay only and non-financial elements of the overall offer are not included. It should be noted that this pay data is now eighteen months old.
Dstl has a different pay range structure to MOD, with Dstl having more pay levels than MOD grades. This is particularly the case between Dstl levels 6-8, which equate to MOD Grade 7-6. Dstl’s pay ranges are also much wider.
The table below sets out the median and mean data from March 2020. The percentages representing the Dstl figure as a proportion of the MOD equivalent.
Dstl and MOD practice
Dstl Level | MOD Grade | Median practice | Mean practice | ||||
Dstl (£) | MOD (£) | % | Dstl (£) | MOD (£) | % | ||
4 | HEO | 28,652 | 32,425 | 88 | 28,247 | 32,965 | 86 |
5 | SEO | 37,322 | 39,511 | 94 | 37,633 | 40,180 | 94 |
6 | G7 smaller | 46,087 | 53,107 | 87 | 46,416 | 53,566 | 87 |
7 | G7/G6 | 56,354 | 53,107/ 62,528 | 106/90 | 57,416 | 53,566/ 63,328 | 107/91 |
8 | G6 larger | 66,440 | 62,528 | 106 | 66,918 | 63,328 | 106 |
Note: the analysis is from National pay scales so the figures exclude London Weighting.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2021 to Question 45126, Ministry of Defence Guard Service: Conditions of Employment, what conclusions were drawn from the comparative assessment of how OMEC contracts compare with those in the private sector security industry.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
External benchmarking completed in 2019 concluded that the Operational MGS Employment Contract OMEC total cash package is between 7% and 32% higher than the equivalent private sector salary. This does not take into account access to the Civil Service defined benefit pension scheme.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2021 to Question 45127, Ministry of Defence Guard Service: Working Hours, how many and what proportion of MGS staff on OMEC contracts have worked at least (a) 60 and (b) 72 hours in a rolling 7-day period since those contracts were introduced.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Due diligence is conducted at local management level. As a consequence of routine MGS assessments against UK Working Time Regulations, no Ministry of Defence Guard Service employee will involuntarily work more than 48 hours per week (gross) on average over a 17 week reference period.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2021 to Question 45127, Ministry of Defence Guard Service: Working Hours, if he will commit to ensuring that no member of MGS staff on OMEC contracts are required to work more than 48 hours in a rolling 7-day period.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Ministry of Defence Guard Service (MGS) operates within the parameters of UK Working Time Regulations. As part of these regulations, no MGS employee will involuntarily work more than 48 hours per week (gross) on average over a 17 week reference period.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2021 to Question 45127, Ministry of Defence Guard Service: Working Hours, whether a fatigue risk management system is in place for MGS staff working (a) up to and (b) more than 48 hours in a rolling 7-day period.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence Guard Service (MGS) adheres to the Defence Joint Service Publication (JSP) 892, which is the mechanism by which wellbeing-related risks and issues, including fatigue, are managed.
Any mitigations to these risks are applied in accordance with the Ministry of Defence Civilian HR Policy, Rules and Guidance.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2021 to Question 45090, Ministry of Defence Guard Service: Conditions of Employment, how many and what proportion of MGS staff on pre-OMEC contracts would experience a reduction in pay in the event that they were promoted to the next highest (a) grade and (b) band.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
No pre-Operational MGS Employment Contract personnel would experience a reduction in guaranteed basic pay in the event of promotion to the next highest shift working grade or band.