Armed Forces: Pay

(asked on 18th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of the delay of the armed forces pay award on morale in the armed forces.


Answered by
Johnny Mercer Portrait
Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This question was answered on 2nd June 2020

The Government is currently considering the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body’s (AFPRB) recommendations, taking into account the need to recruit, retain, and motivate personnel, as well as the long-term affordability of the Armed Forces. Once a decision has been reached, any pay rises will be backdated to 1 April 2020.

The maintenance of morale in the Armed Forces is a high priority and is measured in a robust, consistent and scientific manner, through mechanisms such as the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS). We have been unable to attribute fluctuations in morale to specific factors such as pay, and more specifically, to delay of the pay award. Neither do we anticipate that this would have a detrimental impact on recruitment or retention.

There are a range of measures underway in the fields of recruitment and retention; these are kept under constant review. Last year we secured an across the board pay rise of 2.9% for all personnel up to 1-star rank and introduced other financial initiatives in certain priority areas. The Future Accommodation Model (FAM) is now being trialled at scale and will give our personnel greater choice of housing options to better suit their lifestyles. The introduction of Flexible Service has enabled our personnel to alter their career commitment for set periods of time so that may remain in the Armed Forces while balancing the demands of other domestic responsibilities. Lastly, we have also collaborated with industry to provide new opportunities for those with critical skills in order to improve retention within the wider Defence community.


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